Democrat Sean Casten won a fifth term in Illinois' 6th Congressional District on Tuesday, Nov. 3, defeating Republican Niki Conforti in a race the Associated Press called at 9:37 p.m.

Conforti, an energy consultant and elected precinct committeeman in Milton Township, had centered her campaign on bringing down household costs. With 75 percent of votes counted across DuPage County, suburban Cook County and Chicago neighborhoods, Casten held 138,850 votes (63.3 percent) to Conforti's 80,503 (36.7 percent), according to unofficial tallies reported by Patch. Results are unofficial until certified by election authorities.

The 6th District covers portions of suburban Cook and DuPage counties, including communities near Wheaton, along with Chicago Southwest Side neighborhoods.

What the candidates ran on

Conforti, who has worked as an energy consultant for nine years, said affordability was the central issue of her campaign. She called for legislation to cut regulations in the energy industry and limit renewable energy mandates, an approach she said would make the grid more resilient and lower utility bills, according to Shaw Local.

In a candidate questionnaire published by the Chicago Sun-Times, Conforti said she would support legislation "that will streamline domestic energy production by cutting burdensome federal regulations and limiting renewable energy mandates, emphasizing a 'speed to power' approach."

She also pushed for more transparency in medical billing and allowing health insurance policies to be purchased across state lines, according to Shaw Local.

Casten, a Downers Grove Democrat who has represented the district since 2019, campaigned on deploying clean energy to lower utility costs. He said the first bill he would file is the Energy Bills Relief Act, which he wrote with U.S. Rep. Mike Levin. That bill would restore Inflation Reduction Act incentives that Casten said were substantially repealed during the current congressional term, according to a Shaw Local questionnaire published in September.

Before Congress, Casten spent 20 years in the private sector building clean energy power plants.

Casten declares victory

In a statement after the race was called, Casten said he would focus on lowering costs and conducting oversight of the executive branch.

"Over the last two years, we've seen that experiment come under attack," Casten said in the statement, referring to American democracy. "The cost of living has skyrocketed."

All 12 incumbent U.S. representatives in Illinois won their races Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, as reported by WTTW.

No public concession statement from Conforti appeared in available reports as of Wednesday, Nov. 4.