Oberweis takes slight early lead in 14th Congressional District, Ives in 6th

State Sen. Jim Oberweis addresses the Sun-Times Editorial Board. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

State Sen. Jim Oberweis was battling with two other Republicans for an early lead Tuesday in the 14th Congressional District Republican primary, vying for the chance to square off against freshman Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood this fall in a typically red district that historically flipped blue in 2018.

Oberweis had 25%, just edging past former U.S. Commerce Department adviser Catalina Lauf and state Sen. Sue Rezin, who each had 23%, with 42% of 462 precincts reporting. Also running in the Republican race of loyal President Donald Trump supporters in the far west suburban congressional district were Jerry Evans, James T. “Jim” Master, Ted Gradel and Anthony Catella.

Preliminary results were expected to trickle in much slower than usual this year due to a number of factors related to Illinois’ COVID-19 outbreak, including a record number of mail-in ballots and voting hours being extended until 8 p.m. at 40 suburban Cook County locations.

Flanked by family and supporters, state Sen. Sue Rezin, center, Republican candidate for Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, watches local news as results from the primary election stream in, Tuesday night, March 17, 2020.

In the west suburban 6th Congressional District GOP race — the other Chicago-area congressional seat that also turned Democratic in 2018 — former gubernatorial candidate and army veteran Jeanne Ives led surgeon and army reserve colonel Gordon “Jay” Kinzler, 67% of the vote to 32% of the vote with about 18% of precincts reporting.

In the 14th Congressional District. Oberweis campaign spokesman Travis Akin said Tuesday evening they were happy with his early lead, but wanted to give thanks to the election judges who worked the polls.

“All the election judges and people who showed up to make sure today was a success even with these circumstances deserve lots of credit,” Akin said. “We’re grateful for people who prioritized voting and excited for results.”

Underwood, 33, faced no Democratic primary challenger in the GOP-leaning district, which she flipped blue in 2018 as part of a “blue wave” of Democrats nationwide who took over control of the U.S. House when she defeated longtime GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren.

A nurse and health policy expert, she’s the first woman and first African American ever to represent the overwhelmingly white district, which spans from the Wisconsin border to the western suburbs and out to rural areas in parts of DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

The Republican nominee for the 6th District will go on to face Casten, the first Democrat to hold the seat in more than 40 years since unseating six-term GOP Rep. Peter Roskam in 2018.

Casten is a major Republican target this time around and has already kicked off his general election campaign.

Ives, who opposed former Gov. Bruce Rauner from the right in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, ran her latest campaign on similar conservative values.

She found support then among voters angered by some of Rauner’s more liberal policies, such as covering abortions for state employees and Medicaid recipients or declaring Illinois a “sanctuary state.”

Kathleen Murphy, a spokeswoman for Ives, said they were “very encouraged” by the early voting results.

“We’re optimistic and really grateful for all the support we’ve gotten so far,” Murphy said. “It’s been overwhelming, and she’s ready to be serious and focused on the challenges at hand.”