CHICAGO — Former Rep. Melissa Bean won the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 8th District, cementing her political comeback in a solidly blue seat more than a decade after she left Congress.
Bean, a moderate who served in the House from 2005 to 2011, defeated several progressive challengers on Tuesday in the race to replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who launched a bid for the Senate.
Her win was heavily boosted by outside spending: A group called Elect Chicago Women, aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured nearly $4 million into the race to support Bean, and another AI-focused committee ran ads in favor of her.
Bean, who had lost her seat during the 2010 Tea Party wave, built her campaign around a message of pragmatism — an approach she argued voters were seeking amid a hyper-partisan national political climate.
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