Mount Greenwood Resident Joey Ruzevich Officially On Ballot For IL-06 Democratic Primary

CHICAGO — Joey Ruzevich is heaving a sigh of relief after the deadline for which objections could be filed against nominating petitions passed on Monday. Ruzevich, who lives in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood, is challenging Congressman Sean Casten in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District in the upcoming democratic primary on March 17, 2026.

The 28-year-old is banking on IL-06 voters being disenchanted with the Democratic establishment in Congress during President Donald Trump’s turbulent second term. Casten has been dogged by pro-Palestinian protesters at his town halls over Casten’s support for money for Israel, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza.

Ruzevich said the district needs “bold, new leadership that delivers for people when the Democrats are in power.”

“This campaign is about delivering on promises the Democrats have been making for decades.”
Ruzevich stated. “We need leaders who have the motivation and courage to break through the red tape and go against the special interest groups in order to pass legislation that benefits the average American.”

After filing on Nov. 3, three attorneys, one of them said to Casten’s lawyer, requested to look at Ruzevich’s nominating petitions after they were submitted.

“We definitely expected it,” Ruzevich told Patch. “Anybody challenging an incumbent has to expect it.”

Although only 980 signatures were required. Ruzevich says his team collected 3,500 signatures. No objections were filed.

“We confirmed over 2,000 were valid signatures,” Ruzevich said. “I’m very happy with the hard work everyone put in to circulate petitions and collect signatures. I think Rep. Casten is not taking this candidate too seriously. He’s very comfortable with the position he is in.”

Ruzevich says his campaign will focus on confronting the affordability crisis that is squeezing households across the district, breaking up big tech and other monopolies, reinvigorating the American Dream for the next generation, ending the endless war machine, and standing for justice and human rights.

“I’m running because America is facing a crisis economically, morally and civically,” the challenger said. “At the federal level on the Democractic side, nobody is righting the ship.”

He grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and graduated from Brother Rice High
School before attending Moraine Valley Community College and Loyola University in New
Orleans, where he earned a degree in computer science on an athletic scholarship.

After playing basketball professionally in Europe for two years, he returned home to Illinois to build a career as a software engineer and today operates his own small business developing mobile applications. His work as a software engineer and a small business owner gave him firsthand experience with both the power of innovation while highlighting the challenges of monopolies and affordability. These experiences will shape his campaign to reinvigorate the American Dream for families across the IL-06.

More information about Joey Ruzevich and his campaign is available at www.joey4congress.com.