9th District Election Results: US Rep. Jan Schakowsky Projected Winner

EVANSTON, IL — Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky is poised to win a 14th term in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday, with the Evanston Democrat set to secure another landslide victory in the heavily Democratic district.

But Schakowsky is likely to lose her position as a subcommittee chair on the Energy and Commerce Committee, with projections showing Democrats are likely to lose their 8-seat House majority.

"It's absolutely critical. This election is a pivotal election right now," Schakowsky said last month at a candidates forum. "I think it's an election that distinguishes between: 'Are we going to have a real democracy where people have power, have freedom?'"

After spending eight years in the Illinois General Assembly, Schakowsky was first elected to Congress in 1998 to the seat vacated by longtime U.S. Rep. Sid Yates. She defeated then State Sen. Howard Carroll and future Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the primary that year.

Her challenger, Max Rice, made his second run at Congress as a Republican. In a four-way primary in 2018, he came in last place with just 10 percent of the vote.

But Rice ran unopposed this year, as John Elleson of Arlington Heights, who won the primary four years ago, was kicked off the ballot due to a lack of valid signatures.

As part of Rice's long-shot campaign, he performed a stand-up act, sent an imposter to a newspaper forum and took part in another candidate forum via videoconference from a North Side restaurant.

Rice, an employee of his family's energy brokerage, has said he would "drop the Republican label" as his first act in office.

According to campaign finance records, Schakowsky spent about $1.3 million of the $1.5 million she has raised in this election cycle, according to Open Secrets, whereas Rice raised less than $10,000 and had spent more than half of it.

With last year's redistricting, the 9th Congressional district has traded most of New Trier Township to the 10th District in exchange for portions of Maine and Northfield townships.

The newly redrawn 9th District map now extends from neighborhoods on Chicago's North Side all the way to southeast McHenry County, snaking through southwest Lake County on the way.

Read more: Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky Cruises Toward 13th Term In House

Illinois 9th Congressional District Unofficial Election Results, Nov. 8, 2022