Former state Rep. Jeanne Ives, a far-right social conservative who almost beat then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in last year’s GOP primary, announced that she would challenge Democratic freshman Rep. Sean Casten in Illinois’ 6th District. Surprisingly, Ives said that former Rep. Peter Roskam, an establishment ally whom Casten defeated in 2018, is supporting her. Ives will face former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, who was Rauner’s running mate last year, in the primary for this suburban Chicago seat.
Ives decided to challenge Rauner in late 2017 after the governor signed a law allowing public funding for abortions. Ives’ bid quickly received $2.5 million from conservative mega donor Richard Uihlein (Illinois has no campaign finance limits), which is largely what kept her campaign afloat. However, Ives still spent the entire contest as the underdog against the wealthy governor, whom she tried to portray as a liberal.
Ives infamously used a racist and transphobic ad to make that case. Her spot included a deep-voiced actor in a dress telling the governor, “Thank you for signing legislation that lets me use the girls bathroom.” The commercial also included a man in a hoodie wearing a bandana around his face expressing his appreciation to Rauner for ostensibly making the state “a sanctuary state for illegal immigrant criminals,” as well as a woman sporting a pink protest hat meant to invoke the Women’s March saying that the governor now had Illinois families “pay[ing] for my abortions.”
This spot attracted plenty of attention, but every poll still showed Rauner beating Ives. However, the Democratic Governors Association decided to launch a late attempt to try and take down the governor in the primary. The DGA ran commercials in the final week of the contest pretending to call Ives out as "too conservative" in a barely disguised effort to boost her with, well, conservatives. It almost worked, but Rauner prevailed by a very weak 51.5-48.5. However, according to analysts and Daily Kos Elections contributor Drew Savicki, Ives carried the 6th District 50.2-49.8.