Underwood Defeats Gryder To Win 3rd Term As IL 14th District Rep

PLAINFIELD, IL — Underwood secured a third term as the representative for Illinois's 14th Congressional District, according to The New York Times and Chicago Tribune.

The race has been called despite not all votes being accounted for — 93 percent are in, as of Wednesday morning. She is leading with 124,628 votes, or 53.7 percent. Republican challenger Scott Gryder has received 107,247 votes, or 46.3 percent, according to unofficial totals.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. in Illinois.

Underwood sought a third term in the House of Representatives position. She ran unopposed in June's primary election, where Gryder came out on top among four other Republican candidates.

RELATED: Underwood, Gryder Face Off in 14th District Race: IL Election 2022

When Underwood was first elected to represent District 14 in 2018, she made history as the youngest Black woman to serve in Congress at age 32. She ran again for Congress in 2020 when she defeated Republican challenger Jim Oberweis by just over 5,000 votes, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Underwood — who worked as a nurse before starting her political career — delivered more than $284 million in pandemic relief to K-12 public schools in the 14th District. She has also helped pass legislation to limit underage access to e-cigarettes and to increase federal funding that supports child abuse prevention, her website states.

In her first term in Congress, Underwood held 91 community events, made 97 visits to local businesses and organizations and held 35 town hall meetings between the seven counties represented in the 14th District.

Gryder currently serves as chairman of the Kendall County Board, where he has been elected as a District 2 representative three times. His platform focused on preserving Second Amendment Rights, improving access to mental health services, protecting Medicare and expanding services for United States veterans.

The 14th District covers a portion of Northern Illinois, spanning from the Wisconsin border to the north and Kendall County to the south. The district includes all or parts of Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, North Aurora and Campton Hills in Kane County; Oswego, Yorkville and Plano in Kendall County; Plainfield in Will County; McHenry, Crystal Lake, Huntley and Woodstock in McHenry County; Naperville and Warrenville in DuPage County; Sycamore in DeKalb County; and Wauconda in Lake County.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect Underwood won her third term.