After polls closed at 7 p.m. last Tuesday evening, La Shawn Ford was quick to claim victory, around 8:30 p.m., as the next U.S. Congressman for Illinois’ 7th district.
Among nearly 100,000 voters across the district — which stretches from the South Side of Chicago, along I-290, to the West Side of Chicago and some western suburbs — Ford got nearly 24% of the vote, and runner-up Melissa Conyears-Ervin got just over 20%, according to unofficial election results from the New York Times.
But among nearly 63,000 Chicago voters, Conyears-Ervin was slightly more popular than Ford. Unofficial City of Chicago numbers show Conyears-Ervin got over 24% of the vote, while Ford got 23.74% (At time of publication, 283 of 291 precincts had been reported).
Before the race was officially called, Conyears-Ervin told attendees at her watch party Tuesday evening that, “While in the city it is neck-and-neck, in our suburban vote we are lagging behind.”
In her official concession statement, she said: “As someone born on the South Side, raised on the West Side and who is caring for my disabled sister relying on SNAP and Medicaid, I’ve lived the devastating impact of the Trump administration, and I’ll continue to fight back on behalf of my constituents. While this is not the outcome we were hoping for, I am comforted by the words of Scripture: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have kept the faith.’”
When he took the stage at his watch party, Ford said Conyears-Ervin, who is currently city treasurer of Chicago, was the only contestant in the 7th district race who’d already congratulated him on his win. Both candidates said they’d collaborate once Ford takes office to lift up the West and South Sides and Black communities.
How other candidates performed
After Conyears-Ervin, Anthony Driver Jr. received the most votes, at both a citywide and district-wide level. The New York Times reported that Driver got over 11% of votes in the district, and the City of Chicago reported he got over 12%.
Kina Collins got over 9% of votes in the district, but only 6.6% of votes in the city. Collins, who was endorsed by multiple Oak Park public officials, performed much better in the suburbs, where she was runner-up to Ford with 14.5% of the vote.
Both Thomas Fisher and Jason Friedman received more than 7% of the districtwide vote. Fisher received a similar percentage of the city vote, while Friedman broke 8%.
Anabel Mendoza got the next-most votes, 5.5% in the district and 5.75% in the city.
Reed Showalter and Richard Boykin saw over 4% of votes at the district level and over 3% of votes in Chicago.
Jazmin Robinson got 2.7% of the district vote and over 3% of the city vote.
Rory Hoskins got 2% of the district vote and under 1% of the city vote. He’s mayor of Forest Park, where he got 20.5% of the vote to Ford’s 21%.
David Ehrlich and Felix Tello both saw under 1% of the vote in the district as a whole and among city voters.