Several of the leading Democratic contenders for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District gathered Thursday, February 12, for a televised town hall on the Chicago Access Television Network (CAN-TV), offering voters a rare opportunity to hear their priorities side by side as the competitive primary enters its final month. The forum was moderated by The Fulcrum's executive editor and Latino News Network's publisher Hugo Balta and public health and emergency management expert Dr. Suzet McKinney, who pressed the candidates on the district’s most urgent needs and the kind of leadership they believe residents deserve.
Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, State Sen. Willie Preston, and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Yumeka Brown took part in the discussion. State Sen. Robert Peters, another top contender, was scheduled to appear but excused himself due to being taken ill.
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The race has drawn heightened attention because the seat is open for the first time in more than a decade. The vacancy was created when U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly announced she would not seek reelection and would instead run for the U.S. Senate, prompting a crowded Democratic primary in a district where the nominee is expected to be the overwhelming favorite in November.
After candidate introductions, Dr. McKinney opened the evening by asking all candidates, “What do you believe the 2nd District needs from its next representative that may not be getting today?”
Donna Miller was the first to respond:
"I think that what we all need in this country is diplomacy. We all need to be not looking to fight. We need to be coming together. I look at leadership as a choice you make in your life to make sure that you're bringing value, ethics, and transparency to government. And that's what I would bring to the 2nd congressional district."
McKinney followed with tailored questions that pushed each contender to connect their experience to the district’s needs. To Jackson, she posed, “What would you do differently now that you did not — or could not — do during your previous service as Congressman?”
Jesse Jackson Jr. responded:
"What's really clear to me is that the district needs to be connected to the global economy. The Bishop Ford Freeway at eight in the morning, going north, is in a traffic jam, so is I-57. No one in Chicago or in the region is fighting to get to the South Side of Chicago and south suburbs. The next representative of the 2nd congressional district really has to find a way to alter traffic. To bring jobs to the South Side of Chicago and south suburbs. To connect the district to the global economy so that we can sustain ourselves."
Balta’s questions included the economy, poverty, and basic needs—issues that have long shaped life in the 2nd District. He asked the candidates, “The racial wealth gap remains wide in Illinois. What specific policies would you support to help families build wealth — not just income — through homeownership, savings, or retirement security?”
Yumeka Brown had this to say:
"As a resident of the Southland of Chicago, I have seen a major hit in property taxes, which has caused a lot of businesses not to want to come to the south suburban communities that are east of Harlem. I will bring federal dollars back to those communities to help support small businesses. I think that that is critical."
Balta then pressed the group on child well‑being, asking, “Child poverty has lifelong consequences for education, health, and earnings. What federal policies would you prioritize to reduce child poverty in this district?”
Willie Preston said:
"Some people in this nation had a 400-year start. It is not a surprise that they have greater wealth. We have to champion reparations. Every child in this nation should have a CD (certificate of deposit) put into their name. And we should be able to let that grow, and then when they're of age, turn that over."
Throughout the evening, candidates offered sharply distinct visions. Jackson emphasized economic revitalization and infrastructure investment. Miller focused on her experience managing county budgets equips her to negotiate at the federal level. Preston highlighted workforce development and the expansion of trade schools. Brown centered her message, calling for long‑term investment in community well‑being.
Reflecting on the significance of the event, Balta said, “Town halls like this give voters something they rarely get in a crowded primary: a chance to hear candidates engage directly with the issues that shape their daily lives. When people can compare visions in real time, they’re better equipped to choose the leader who truly understands their community.”
Ten Democrats are on the ballot overall, including Adal Regis, Eric France, Patrick “PJK” Keating, Sidney Moore, and Toni C. Brown. Republican Mike Noack is running unopposed in his party’s primary.
CAN-TV also hosted a Town Hall with the leading contenders in the 9th Congressional District. You can watch that debate by clicking Here.
Darrious Hilmon, Executive Editor at CAN‑TV, underscored the network’s mission, saying, "CAN TV's broadcast of the 2nd and 9th Congressional Towns are proof-points of our unwavering commitment to civic engagement, voter education, and ensuring that our communities have direct access to the information they need to participate fully in our democracy."
Illinois 2nd District Candidates Meet in High‑Impact CAN‑TV Town Hall Ahead of 2026 Primary was first published by the Latino News Network and was republished with permission.
Hugo Balta is the executive editor of The Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network. He is often a guest and guest host of Chicago Newsroom 2.0 on CAN-TV.
President Donald Trump speaks with the media after signing a funding bill to end a partial government shutdown in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2026.
Will Trump’s moves ever awaken conservatives?
Donald Trump has rewritten the rules of the presidency in ways that could change America forever, and not for the better.
His naked self-dealing, weaponizing the Justice Department against his political foes, turning on our allies, the casino-fication of the White House — none of it bodes well for the future of our democracy, setting precedents that other presidents on both sides of the aisle could very well continue.
But one of the most obvious things Trump has changed in politics is its concern with ideology and principle. The long-held philosophy that used to bind the Republican Party together is gone, because he simply didn’t have a use for it.
For conservatives, that’s been especially disorienting and troubling. It began with Trump’s disregard for the debt and deficit, and carried through to this term’s embrace of tariffs, or protectionism. His personal disinterest in what the Christian right used to call “family values” dismantled the evangelical base of the party. And his courting of white nationalists and antisemites changed the face of the party.
None of that has been enough, however, to move conservative lawmakers to significantly break with Trump or even call him out. They happily co-signed his tariffs, watched as he exploded the debt and the deficit, turned the other way at his criminality and immorality, and defended police-attacking insurrectionists at the Capitol. He even managed to tick off the Second Amendment crowd with his crackdown on guns at protests and in Washington.
None of this is conservative. But so long as they kept winning, cowardly Republicans not named Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger didn’t seem to care.
But now, with a new idea hatched, will Republicans finally remember their conservative roots?
On Monday, Trump called on Republicans to “nationalize the voting.” It was a startling suggestion for a party that’s always concerned itself with state’s rights and federalism.
“The Republicans should say, we want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” he said.
The call is in service of his election lie, of course, an answer to the non-existent scourge of voter fraud that rigged just the 2020 election and somehow not the 2016 or 2024 elections.
Except Trump is the one attempting the rigging. He’s tried to end mail ballots and voting machines, sued two dozen blue states for their voter rolls, embarked on a rare mid-decade redistricting campaign, dismantled the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, and pardoned dozens of people who signed false election certifications for him in 2020.
It’s tempting to dismiss the idea as merely a self-soothing ramble, the nonsensical blurting of an old man still fixated on an imaginary injustice. But it should offend and worry everyone, not least of all Republicans.
Elections are held locally for good reason — it’s harder to rig them that way. The Constitution says states shall determine the times, places and manner of elections, for the explicit purpose of decentralizing and protecting their integrity. It’s the backbone of federalism.
But for House Speaker Mike Johnson it’s nothing to get worked up about. “What you’re hearing from the president is his frustration about the lack of some blue states, frankly, of enforcing these things and making sure that they are free and fair elections.”
But Democrats are rightly concerned, and preparing for potential “federal government intrusion” in the midterms. “This is now a legitimate planning category,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. “It’s extraordinarily sad, but it would be irresponsible for us to disregard the possibility.”
Extraordinarily sad, indeed. But will it revive the dormant conservatism in the Republican Party? Will lawmakers remember their principles and patriotism? Or will they continue to sleep through Trump’s total remaking of America’s political system?
Maybe this will be the thing that finally wakes them up.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.