Wheaton City Council member Erica Bray-Parker and Carol Stream business owner Robert Vrankovich are competing for the open 47th Illinois House District seat, a race both parties have targeted in the November election.

The seat opened after state Rep. Amy Grant, a Wheaton Republican, decided not to seek a fourth term. Grant won by just 292 votes in 2024, Chronicle Media reported, making the district one of the most competitive state legislative seats in DuPage County.

The 47th District includes parts of Wheaton, Warrenville, Carol Stream, Winfield, Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Lisle, Bartlett, West Chicago and Wayne, according to Chronicle Media.

Who's running

Bray-Parker, 56, is a Democrat who has served on the Wheaton City Council since 2019 and taught at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream for more than 30 years. She announced her candidacy after Grant said she would not run again, Chronicle Media reported.

In a scene captured by The Wheaton Record in September, Bray-Parker and a group of teachers gathered in a former dentist's office on Roosevelt Avenue to write postcards on a rainy Saturday morning. U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a supporter, showed up in jeans and sneakers.

Vrankovich, 52, is a Republican who owns a propane company. In an endorsement editorial, the Chicago Tribune described him as bringing "a welcome focus on fiscal restraint." He has called for property tax relief, consolidation of local government services and structural reforms at Chicago Public Schools before additional state funding, according to the Tribune editorial board.

"We cannot keep paying into a broken system and children deserve a better chance to succeed," Vrankovich told the Tribune.

Bray-Parker has emphasized education and representation. She told The Wheaton Record her goal "has always been to make sure the people of the 47th get heard and get equal representation down in Springfield."

Money gap

The fundraising disparity is stark. Democratic leadership spent more than $200,000 supporting Bray-Parker through Sept. 28, Chronicle Media reported. That included a $131,898 television ad buy, $23,000 for two mailings and $47,500 for digital ads.

House Speaker Chris Welch assigned his legislative coordinator, Tommy Layden, to manage Bray-Parker's campaign, according to Chronicle Media. Bray-Parker started July with $70,238 on hand and raised another $52,000 in larger donations, including $25,000 from the education political action committee IPACE.

On the Republican side, the House Republican Organization spent $8,195 on staffing between March and July 1 and $15,200 on polling in late August, Chronicle Media reported. Vrankovich started July with just $15,094 on hand.

Shifting district

The 47th District has trended Democratic in recent cycles even as Grant held on. Kamala Harris won the district by 10.5 points in the 2024 presidential race, according to Chronicle Media, while Grant won her state house race that same year by just 292 votes.

Democrats swept all 49 contested township office races in the district in spring 2025, Chronicle Media reported.

Capitol News Illinois reported that Democrats hold a 78-40 advantage in the Illinois House and are targeting several suburban districts to expand that margin. Republicans see the same suburban seats as essential to chipping away at Democratic supermajorities.

Jackie Williamson, who ran as the Democratic candidate in 2022 and 2024, appeared at a Bray-Parker campaign event in September, The Wheaton Record reported. Williamson lost the 2024 race by 292 votes while working full time, she said, and noted that Bray-Parker offered her the race first before deciding to run herself.