* 7th Congressional District Democratic candidate Richard Boykin is up on TV with an ad spotted today during WGN’s midday news…

* 314 Action Fund endorses Dr. Thomas Fisher for the 7th CD. Press release…

Today 314 Action Fund, the nation’s only organization dedicated to recruiting, training and electing doctors and scientists, endorsed Dr. Thomas Fisher for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. As a board-certified emergency medical doctor, Dr. Fisher is a Guardian of Public Healthcandidate. He’s answering the call to serve his community as 314 Action works to elect more doctors, nurses and health care professionals to office.

Through Guardians of Public Health, 314 Action is working to 100 new doctors, up and down the ballot and across the nation by 2030, raising and spending over $25 million in the effort.

* Citizen Action/Illinois…

Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest coalition, continues its statewide series of candidate forums with the next event TODAY, Thursday, October 9, focused on the Democratic candidates for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. The forum will take place from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Kennedy King College – U Building, Great Hall (740 W 63rd St, Chicago, IL 60621).

All Democratic candidates who filed with the FEC were invited to participate in this forum. Candidates attending this Senate Forum include: Robert Peters, Eric France, Adal Regis, Yumeka Brown, Donna Miller, and Willie Preston. […]

This forum will be livestreamed on Citizen Action/Illinois’s Facebook page, with additional events scheduled across the Chicagoland area and suburban communities through November 18. Details and RSVP information can be found here.

* The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee endorses Sen. Mike Simmons for the 9th Congressional District…

The American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) today announced its endorsement of Illinois State Senator Mike Simmons for the U.S. Congress representing Illinois’s 9th Congressional District. AEPAC praised Senator Simmons as a trailblazing leader whose record of integrity, inclusion, and results makes him uniquely qualified to represent the people of Illinois in Washington.

Senator Simmons currently serves in the Illinois State Senate representing the 7th Senatorial District, where he has authored and passed fifty bills into law over four years. His work includes establishing a state child-tax credit, helping erase medical debt for hundreds of thousands of residents, expanding affordable housing, banning hair discrimination in schools through the Jett Hawkins Act, and eliminating “forever chemicals” from drinking water. […]

“As the first American of Ethiopian descent to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, I know the power that comes with authentic representation. The people of this district deserve leadership that reflects the true diversity and strength of this country - especially at a time when immigrants of all kinds are under attack. I am committed to becoming the first Ethiopian-American in Congress and working to ensure I am not the last.” - Mike Simmons

* More…

* WRAM | Julie Bickelhaupt Running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District: A lifelong Illinoisan, farmer, mother, and community leader, Julie Bickelhaupt is running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District on the Republican ticket in 2026, which is currently held by Democrat Eric Sorensen. Bickelhaupt shares her top three priorities for running: “The cost of living, clearly the cost of living is an issue for a lot of people in the area; mainly some being energy costs, healthcare, putting food on the table, food costs, and a big one for me that I have really noticed, especially through the county board and locking in rates and hearing what experts have to say is that those rates are going up and those needs are going up. With that, we need to figure out how to use all sources of energy within our country and our state and unleash that energy opportunities in order to lower some of those bills for constituents for the district.”

* Brownfield AG | Congresswoman questions support for competing soybean exporter amid farm aid talks: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski tells Brownfield, “Why would this administration be providing financial taxpayer incentives to a country that is our competitor when we’re trying to sell our own domestically grown soybeans?” China recently purchased around 7 million tons of soybeans from Argentina, and Budzinski says… “China’s not buying our soybeans.” She says, “Why would we be providing any kind of financial bailout to Argentina right now, at the potential detriment of our own growers?”

* Press Release | IL Congressional Democrats statement on Trump’s threats to jail Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson: “Donald Trump’s continued and escalating threats against his political opponents should alarm everyone—especially since he’s proven they aren’t just idle threats. Our Constitution was designed to protect our country from tyrants who think they have ultimate power—and right now, our country’s founding principles are being tested. “With his public threats to jail political opponents—this time against the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago—who’ve done nothing but protect the rights of Illinoisans in the face of his egregious and unconstitutional actions, it’s as clear as it’s ever been that Trump believes he can pick and choose which laws to follow and who is guilty or innocent.

* NPR | Illinois congressman talks about the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago: NPR speaks with Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois as 500 National Guard troops prepare to touch down in Chicago against the wishes of state and city officials.