17th Congressional District

Polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday and will close at 7 p.m. Learn more about what Sauk Valley voters are casting ballots on.

In Illinois, only one of the 17 congressional districts falls into the “competitive” category – the 17th District, which covers much of northwest Illinois, including Rockford, the Quad Cities area, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal.

A retired Winnebago County circuit court judge and a grain farmer from Milan, both Republicans, are running to replace the freshman Democrat in Illinois' 17th Congressional District, which includes Whiteside and Carroll counties.

A Republican businessman and philanthropist from Galesburg who announced plans to try to unseat freshman Democratic U.S. Rep Eric Sorensen is dropping out of the race. Another GOP candidate, however, is waiting in the wings.

A Republican businessman and philanthropist from Galesburg will challenge the 17th District’s first-term congressman in November 2024.

A freshman lawmaker, Eric Sorensen assigned to two farming subcommittes

Subcommittee appointments announced this week for Sauk Valley area members of Congress

The House Agriculture Committee oversees policies and federal agencies relating to U.S. agriculture, forestry, nutrition, rural development, and will oversee passage of the 2023 Farm Bill.

Democrat Eric Sorensen campaigned on being a lifelong resident of the 17th District, which stretches from Rockford to the Quad Cities, to Peoria to McLean County.

Tuesday’s U.S. House race in Illinois’ newly redrawn 17th district could be key to whether Democrats hang on to their slim majority in the U.S. House, as rookies battle to fill the vacancy left by retired Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos.

Congressional candidates conversational in tone and tenor as they meet supporters and ask them to get out the vote ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.

Republican Esther Joy King and Democrat Eric Sorensen are competing for the 17th Congressional District.

A periodic look at elections affecting the Sauk Valley

The Associated Press picked the winner of the GOP primary around 9:30 p.m., and the Democrats’ race around 10:15 p.m., with about two-thirds of the votes counted.

Republican Esther Joy King and Democrat Eric Sorensen will face off in November in what will be a closely watched race for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District.

Six Democrats are making a bid in Tuesday’s primary to replace 17th Congressional District Rep. Cheri Bustos of East Moline, who decided not to seek reelection after her fifth term in office.

Esther Joy King and Charlie Helmick contend for the Republican nomination

A periodic report on election news in the Sauk Valley

Periodic news and notes on the the 2022 elections

Asked about manufacturing jobs, 17th Congressional District candidate Angie Normoyle wrote, "Preserving their employment and expanding opportunities for good-paying, union jobs is one of my top priorities." Read Normoyle's election questionnaire here.

Asked about manufacturing jobs, Litesa Wallace, 17th Congressional District candidate wrote, "One big part of the problem is that we don’t do enough to support commercialization and mass production of promising new technologies." Read Wallace's full election questionnaire here.

An update on information about the 2022 election campaign

Two women who jointly filed objections to three Democratic 17th District Congressional candidates say one filed false affidavits, another violated petition circulator requirements, and all three have enough improper signatures to invalidate their campaigns.

A national group supporting Republican congressional candidates has added Illinois’ 11th District – now held by Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville – to a list of seats it’s focusing on this year.

Two Republicans and seven Democrats file petitions for Congressional seat long held by Cheri Bustos

A year after the Jan. 6 insurrection, Bustos says partisan politics is as bad as ever.