The candidates are as varied as the Democratic Party itself: a legacy name shadowed by controversy, a big-money-backed moderate, a dyed-in-the-wool progressive and seven more.

But the crowded field in the March 17 Democratic primary vying to represent the Illinois 2nd Congressional District agrees on much. They promise to expand health care access, recruit investment to the Southland and fight President Donald Trump with everything in them.

Still, while they might share policy overlap, the race’s top contenders sharply diverge in their political styles, resumes and campaign tactics as they try to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who is running for U.S. Senate instead of seeking another term in the House.

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller touts her experience leading health care organizations such as Planned Parenthood Illinois and promotes her moderate approach. In contrast, state Sen. Robert Peters has positioned himself as the race’s true progressive — bolstered by a slate of high-profile endorsements.

State Sen. Willie Preston has taken a more aggressive tack, critiquing opponents while pledging to be an “ass-kicker” ready to take on Trump. And Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Yumeka Brown points to her deep community roots and emphasis on infrastructure investment.

For former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., it’s the institutional knowledge he gained during his nearly 17 years in office, before he resigned in 2012 and was sent to prison, that separates him from the competition. “There is no learning curve here,” he said.

The candidates are competing in a district that stretches from Chicago’s lakefront South Side through suburbs such as Harvey and Dolton, extending south to Danville, Kankakee and Pontiac.

Jackson, who, in addition to his time in office, is the son of the recently deceased civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, entered the race with an advantage in name recognition, but Miller has made a vigorous effort to introduce herself to voters, buoyed by the $1.3 million her campaign raised through December.

Miller’s cash a key issue

The origin of Miller’s money has become a top issue for her opponents, who argue she will be beholden to contributors.

More than 65% of that $1.3 million, over $856,000, has come from contributors who previously contributed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which advocates for Israel’s interests and supports both Democrats and Republicans, or an AIPAC-affiliated group, according to a Tribune analysis that compared contributor lists by matching names and ZIP codes. Most of those dollars came from outside Illinois.

As competitors allege AIPAC coordinated funding through individual contributors to mask the money’s origin, Miller has distanced herself from the group’s support.

“Individual donors are the ones supporting my campaign,” she told the Tribune. “If it’s something else, then we’re not coordinating that on my campaign.”

But she has shown alignment with the group’s goals. Asked if she has committed to supporting military aid to Israel, Miller, 60, said she comes from a military family. “I look at military aid as a way that we can strengthen and uphold the democratic values in the Middle East,” she said.

Outgoing Rep. Jan Schakowsky withdrew her endorsement of Miller in late February over the AIPAC contributions.

A dark money group not affiliated with the campaign, Affordable Chicago Now, has spent another $2.4 million backing Miller, according to Federal Election Commission records. Miller’s opponents allege that money, too, is tied to AIPAC, a claim unrefuted by local AIPAC leaders and backed by addresses and vendors shared by the organizations.

Miller was first elected to the Cook County Board in 2018. She said improving health care is her top priority and insisted that her record as a commissioner, including securing $3 million for a Cook County Health doula program and expanding CPR training, shows she can deliver results.

“We have to get back to data and science and focus on results, and we need to quit chasing headlines,” she said.

When speaking with the Tribune Editorial Board, she broke from other candidates who called for a federal $25 minimum wage, calling the rate “a little high.”

“Some of these salaries have to come based off experience, knowledge, not just a flat rate,” she said. “Some of these jobs are not meant to be the job of your life. Some of these jobs are entry-level jobs.”

A lifelong resident of the district, she said she is part of its “woven fabric,” an apparent effort to distinguish herself from Jackson, who spent time in D.C.; Peters, who lives several blocks outside its Hyde Park boundaries; and Preston, who lives outside the district in Auburn Gresham.

“You can’t just come to a district to pop in and out,” she said. “People know me, they see me. … I walk the block.”

Peters embraces progressive label

Peters, a community organizer before his 2019 Illinois Senate appointment and two reelection wins, has emerged as the race’s most progressive candidate, a position backed by endorsements from national figures like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as well as groups like the Working Families Party.

Peters, 40, raised more than $900,000 by Jan. 1, over half of which comes from out-of-state contributors, according to a Tribune analysis. PACs tied to nurses and the House Progressive Caucus have spent another $310,000.

He contrasted the money backing him with the money backing Jackson and Miller, saying he would crack down on those asking “for unlimited funds for war” or “Trump tech billionaires trying to make money hand over fist,” the latter referring to the $1.1 million tied to the artificial intelligence industry that has backed Jackson. FairShake, a PAC backed by the cryptocurrency industry, has spent $735,011 opposing Peters.

“The Democratic Party’s got to reject this type of stuff,” he said. “I want (those big donors) to pay higher taxes so we can fund the things that we need.”

Peters, like Preston, called for new trauma centers in the district. Many candidates agree the area is a medical desert with too few resources to care for birthing mothers, heart attack patients and gunshot victims.

In other campaign appearances, Peters has called for health care companies to be broken up under anti-monopoly laws, the cap on Social Security to be lifted “so the rich pay their fair share,” and the program’s future to be secured.

And he has promised, like other candidates, to fight the president’s agenda.

“I will be on the front lines, fighting back against whatever Trump is doing,” he told the Tribune.

Peters, who often points to the 120 bills he has helped pass in Springfield, highlights his role in leading the effort to pass the Pretrial Fairness Act, which is part of the SAFE-T Act and ended cash bail in Illinois, as a “massively transformational” top accomplishment. He also touts funding for violence-prevention efforts and safety-net hospitals, as well as support for workers’ rights, including expanding protections for child labor and temp workers.

Preston casts himself as ‘one of us’

No candidate has drawn sharper contrasts with the field than Preston. The former union janitor who was first elected in 2022 dubs himself “the most bipartisan state senator in Illinois.” He has pushed back against spending on migrants, arguing the government has failed to show similar urgency in the Black district where residents “have, quite frankly, not gotten their fair share.”

Preston, 41, links his push to expand health care across the district to his own experiences, including being stabbed as a young man by a brother experiencing a mental health crisis.

“There was no trauma unit in Englewood, so they had to take me to Mount Sinai,” he told the Tribune, referring to a West Side hospital miles away. “That’s why I led the fight to pour money into safety‑net hospitals.”

He also cites his work directing investments to community violence intervention as proof he can deliver resources, and points to his role as chair of the Senate Black Caucus as evidence of his ability to build consensus. He has described the district as “politically abandoned.”

“We have not challenged effectively the issues the power structures that have made us a consistent, impoverished district,” he said. “I’m going to challenge every single power structure.”

On the campaign trail, Preston has been quick to go after his rivals, attributing his blunt style to a tough upbringing in the district — and arguing it makes him best-equipped to fight Trump.

“If you send me to Congress, close your eyes and imagine: a nice politician or a politician that kicks ass?” he said at a Kenwood Academy High School forum last month. “I’m one of us.”

But that approach has sparked controversy. The Tribune reported in November that Preston shared social media posts in 2020 blasting Democrats. In one, he posted a photo of a ballot for Trump when asked how he would vote. Preston has characterized the posts as trash talk from someone who did not expect to enter politics and was frustrated by disinvestment in his community. He denies voting for Trump in 2020 and promises to fight the president’s initiatives.

“I never endorsed him, and I think, honestly, that is borderline defamation,” he said at the Kenwood forum when asked about the posts.

Preston has also acknowledged a past domestic violence charge. He confirmed details of a 2010 police report stating he choked and slapped his then-girlfriend, whom he has since married, according to Fox 32 Chicago. The state senator told the Tribune he hit his wife once and took accountability for it.

“What I think political opportunists want to do is convict me with a life sentence because they don’t have a plan, they don’t have the spine, and they don’t have the real support from the people in the district,” he said.

Preston raised $118,847 through 2025 but argued that what matters “is not the money,” pointing to endorsements from South Side aldermen and suburban mayors.

Brown embraces political outsider status

Brown, 47, who also serves as Matteson village clerk, said she was propelled into politics when her son contracted an environmental illness tied to water quality that nearly took his life.

“Once he was better, it was time to act, because I really wanted to ensure that that did not happen to any other families,” she said.

She cited her restaurant-owning experience as proof she will support small businesses and her experience leading a palliative care industry group, while calling for stronger universal health care and an end to privatization. She also promised to bring to Congress a focus on infrastructure she picked up while addressing flooding at the water district.

“If you have the infrastructure, then you can build upon that. But when you don’t have it, there are certain things you’re unable to change,” she said.

She described herself as a progressive focused on closing income gaps and adding jobs. She said she opposes the privatization of health care services and called for added mental health services to fight gun violence, which she said has claimed the lives of two of her brothers.

She received $77,417 in contributions through the end of 2025, campaign records show.

Jackson points to experience in comeback bid

Jackson is betting voters will value the experience he gained during nearly two decades in Congress.

First, voters will need to overlook the campaign finance scandal that landed him in prison. Jackson told the Tribune he has repaid what he owed the government and learned from the disgrace.

“I pled guilty to the crimes that were before me,” he said. “That’s the court record. I can’t apologize to the judge, to my God, to my family, to every church I’ve ever been in and keep apologizing for the rest of my life. Doesn’t make sense.”

The former congressman remains focused on securing an airport near Peotone for the district, a focus shared with Miller. He also supports expanding the Affordable Care Act, enshrining health care access in a constitutional amendment and easing the path to pardons for ex-offenders. He has also called for better support for caregivers and higher pay for teachers.

Jackson received $179,827 in campaign contributions through December.

Last month, Think Big, a political group tied to the artificial intelligence industry, injected more than $1.1 million into the race to back Jackson, a sum reshaping the contest. The recent death of his father added another turn.

He continues to receive about $138,000 annually from taxpayer-funded disability programs tied to his past mental health diagnoses, his campaign told the Tribune.

The rest of the field

Businessman Eric France touts his development acumen, arguing economic growth is the solution to the district’s woes. He framed a booming economy as a cure to gun violence during an editorial board discussion.

“Gun control is great, but if you move the environment forward and the economy forward the community will start to fix itself. People are not desperate in good times, when they have good things,” he said.

At the Kenwood forum, France said homelessness requires housing, not shelters.

“I built over 2,000 units just in the state of Illinois alone,” he said. “We don’t need to build another shelter. We need to build another building or another house.”

The plainspoken outsider backs a $25 minimum wage, calling it smart business to pay workers a living wage. He also is proposing “empowerment zones” to draw back businesses that relocated to Indiana for lower taxes.

Adal Regis, a former staffer for Kelly, argues his experience navigating federal bureaucracy would help him deliver federal dollars. A Haitian immigrant who fled authoritarianism, he said his background gives him insight into how to handle Trump.

“The people are going to get the short end of it as those who are economically disadvantaged,” he told the Tribune Editorial Board. “I’m taking a stance because people are suffering, and we’re not talking enough about that people are suffering.”

France raised $13,000, while Regis raised $71,000 before Jan. 1.

Also on the ballot are Patrick Keating, Sidney Moore and Toni C. Brown.