Midterm elections will take place this year, and the primaries – when parties vote on who will represent them in the general election in November – are March 17.
Illinois has many interesting primary races this election cycle, but Trapeze is zeroing in on the hotly contested battle to replace U.S. Congressman Danny Davis in Illinois’ 7th District.
Davis was first elected in 1996 – 30 years ago – and has held onto his seat through 15 terms. This primary represents a generational opportunity to fill his seat. It’s likely that whoever wins this primary will head to Washington, as IL-07 tends to be a strong Democratic district. Davis won 83.3 percent of the vote in the 2024 election cycle.
In our voter guide, the candidates are split into two categories: front runners and others. With so many candidates on the ballot, we could not give everybody a long feature. Candidates were distributed between the two categories based on the amount of campaign donations and previous prominence in Illinois politics. A candidate being labeled as a front runner is not an endorsement from the Trapeze.
Richard Boykin
Boykin served as chief of staff to Davis from 1997 to 2006 and Cook County commissioner from 2014 to 2018. He has been working as an attorney since 1994. In response to a Trapeze survey, he said, “In this moment, I am the only candidate that has done the job of a congressman. We do not have the luxury of choosing someone that needs on-the-job training… My legal and legislative background has prepared me to serve in this moment.”
On his website, Boykin has an eight-point plan for ending gun violence. It includes preventing use of illegal “ghost guns” (untraceable, self-made firearms), supporting communities facing violence, increasing funding for victim protection and implementing new firearm safety measures.
In 2015, he passed an ordinance that banned county law enforcement officials from using chokeholds. When asked what policies he would implement if elected, he said, “I want to lower costs for everyone—housing, healthcare, childcare, groceries and rents. I want to create more jobs. I want to make sure every neighborhood is safe. I want to close health disparities. I want to reverse cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP benefits. I want to improve the quality of life for every person in the district.” – Grace Zoloto
Kina Collins
Collins is an activist who has worked in leadership roles with organizations such as Women’s March Illinois, the Democratizing Philanthropy Project, One Aim, the Biden-Harris
transition team and more. She grew up in Austin and prides herself on coming from a working-class background.
This is her fourth time running for the IL-07 seat. She has criticized Davis about his corporate political action committee (PAC) and the donations he received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Collins said that she is running her campaign to “put people before benefits, to fight for healthcare for all, affordable housing, climate justice and a fair economy that
works for working families.”
Collins is a self-proclaimed progressive and leftist. “We are not going by the old-school playbook of the Democratic Party,” Collins said. “We are not running a campaign like it’s 2008 or 1998. We are running a campaign that centers the voices of the working classes.”
Collins has received endorsements from Oak Park River Forest area progressives such as Oak Park Village Trustees Leving Jacobson and Derek Eder, River Forest Village Trustee Erika Bachner and Oak Park Public Library Trustees Mika Yamamoto, Colin Bird-Martinez and Susanne Fairfax. – Jonah Clark
Melissa Conyears-Ervin
Conyears-Ervin currently serves as the Chicago city treasurer, a role in which she “empowers citizens financially to help build stronger economic futures for their families,” according to her campaign materials. Before becoming treasurer, Conyears-Ervin represented Illinois’ 8th Congressional District in the Illinois House of Representatives and founded the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Conyears-Ervin was born in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and raised in Austin. On her website, Conyears-Ervin lists her key issues as being building sustainable wealth, lower costs, better jobs, health care, fairer taxes, public safety, abortion rights, education, and artificial intelligence support. Other candidates have criticized Conyears-Ervin for accepting $2.8 million from the United Democracy Project (UDP), a Super PAC connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She has received more money from UDP than any other candidate has received in total. She has also received money from corporate PACs.
She is running for the seat because she believes IL-07 deserves somebody who “understands it and will fight for it.” Conyears-Ervin has received an endorsement from the Chicago Teachers Union. She did not respond to a Trapeze request to comment. – Jonah Clark
La Shawn K. Ford
Ford has secured a coveted endorsement from Davis, the incumbent, who is actively supporting Ford’s campaign. In an interview with Trapeze, Davis described Ford as “a strong, progressive Democrat. That’s the kind of person that I hope will take on the mantle of leadership in the 7th District after my turn.”
Ford has represented the 8th District in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2007, passing more than 117 bills during his time there, according to his campaign website.
“The best place to fight for democracy and our constitutional rights is at the federal level.”
Ford seeks to set himself apart not only with his legislative experience but also with his roots in the Austin community of Chicago.
“I’m from the neighborhood, and I understand the neighborhood, and that’s what we need,” Ford said. “We have to have somebody that understands the problems of people with substance abuse disorder. We have to have someone in there that has understanding about struggling small businesses. Someone that understands the need to help individuals that know that we need higher quality education on the West and South sides of Chicago.” – Graham Shea
Jason Friedman
Jason Friedman is a River North luxury real estate developer with some political experience. He has framed himself as an alternative to “career politicians” who “are failing to get the job done.” He has emphasized lowering everyday costs, strengthening public safety and protecting Social Security along with Medicare. He’s also put a strong focus on opposing the Trump administration, arguing that his background in business and being a political outsider makes him “the only candidate in this race who has the background to deliver for this community.”
Friedman is focusing his campaign on “lowering costs for hard working families, quality education for every student, safer neighborhoods, protecting future generations and banning Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
Friedman says he “is unafraid to fight back against the Trump Administration and advocate for Illinois’ 7th District with empathy, common sense, and pragmatism.”
Though he has never held elected office, Friedman has previously been involved in politics. He served as a volunteer for Paul Simon’s presidential campaign, going on to work in President Bill Clinton’s administration and for Sen. Dick Durbin. Locally, he has received the endorsement of former Oak Park Village Trustee Ravi Parakkat. – Nikhil Sholar
Other Candidates include…
Anthony Driver Jr.: Driver is a 32-year-old political strategist and labor organizer. He has emphasized neighborhood level concerns such as economic opportunity, gun violence and healthcare.
David Ehrich: Ehrich is a public affairs professor at the University of Illinois Chicago with experience working in the U.S. Government Accountability office. He has focused on environmental concerns in his campaign.
Thomas Fisher: Fisher is an ER doctor at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Fisher wrote “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER”, which received critical acclaim. He aims to implement greater healthcare reform.
Rory Hoskins: Hoskins is an insurance attorney and the two-term mayor of Forest Park. He has put a strong emphasis on local infrastructure.
Anabel Mendoza: A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, 28-year-old Mendoza is now an organizer for United We Dream, a youth-led immigration nonprofit. Her campaign focuses on affordability.
Jazmin Robinson Robinson is a human resources professional who is focusing her campaign on “making workplaces fairer for employees.” She says that the key policies for her campaign are health care, education, access to government and a living wage.
Reed Showalter Showalter is an Oak Park native who is focusing his campaign on affordability and resistance to the Trump administration. Showalter is an anti-trust lawyer who previously worked in the Biden administration.
Felix Tello A technology engineer, Tello advocates using the app voteurway.org to seek direct feedback from constituents. “Your voice will direct my votes, ensuring transparent and accountable representation,” he wrote in a January press release.
