2026 race

IL-06 — U.S. House

2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Sean Casten.

Read the record. Not the rhetoric.

See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.

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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Democratic primary · Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Sean CastenWon73.4%
  • DJoseph RuzevichDefeated26.6%
Republican primary · Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Niki ConfortiWon82.0%
  • RSkylar DuensingDefeated18.0%
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Disclosed money in race
$3.1M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Niki Conforti

R
ChallengerFEC H2IL06090

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Raised this cycle$348K
Cash on hand: $8K
2 defeated candidates — show

Joseph Ruzevich

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IL06190

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Raised this cycle$169K
Cash on hand: $22K

Skylar Duensing

RDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IL06182

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Raised this cycle$11K
Cash on hand: $229
Local signal

Early read on IL-06 — U.S. House

A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.

Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Sean Castenmixed
0 pos2 neutral0 neg2 articles
Niki Confortilimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race

Finance breakdown

Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.

Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle

Total disclosed
$3.1M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$3.0M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$12K
$12K for · $0 against
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Sean Casten(D)incumbent
+ NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $12K
+ SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION $10
$2.5M$12K—$2.5M
Niki Conforti(R)
$348K——$348K
2 defeated candidates — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Joseph Ruzevich(D)defeated
+ UNITY & JUSTICE FUND $347
$169K$347—$169K
Skylar Duensing(R)defeated
$11K——$11K
Where the money comes from

In-state vs out-of-state

Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside IL versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.

Sean Casten(D)71% in-state · $1.1M itemized
$818K in-state$328K out-of-state
Niki Conforti(R)52% in-state · $113K itemized
$59K in-state$54K out-of-state
2 defeated candidates — show
Joseph Ruzevich(D)defeated96% in-state · $116K itemized
$111K in-state$5K out-of-state
Skylar Duensing(R)defeated74% in-state · $7K itemized
$5K in-state$2K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't

Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.

Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.

In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.

Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.

About this race page

Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.

Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.

News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.