With Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky set to retire and Rep. Danny Davis potentially ready to join them, next year’s election will mark a significant changing of the guard in Illinois’ congressional delegation.

But one member of the old guard says he’s gearing up for a comeback attempt. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. this week filed paperwork to create an exploratory committee for a possible run in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, the seat he held for almost 17 years before resigning amid a corruption probe.

Jackson said in a statement that “it is my intention to secure a place on the ballot” by circulating nominating petitions in the 2nd Congressional District.

Jackson’s attempt at political redemption comes a decade after he was released from federal prison for violating campaign finance laws by using $750,000 in campaign money for personal purchases that included a Rolex watch and Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee memorabilia.

The 2nd District would be one of what could be four hotly contested Chicago-area congressional races in reliably Democratic districts, with candidates this week filing campaign fundraising reports covering the three-month period that scrambled Illinois politics.

In addition to retirement announcements from Durbin, of Springfield, and Schakowsky, of Evanston, two of the state’s Democratic members of Congress announced they’d make primary bids for the Senate seat Durbin has had a virtual lock on since 1997.

The seat Jackson occupied from 1995 to 2012 is open because his successor, Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, is seeking to replace Durbin rather than running for another term representing a district that now stretches south along the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Indiana border from 43rd Street in Chicago to Danville in central Illinois.

Jackson would be joining a field that includes seven declared Democratic candidates in the heavily blue district.

Leading the way in fundraising so far is state Sen. Robert Peters, a South Side native who’s held a seat previously occupied by Attorney General Kwame Raoul and President Barack Obama since 2019. In the three months ending June 30, Peters raised more than $415,000, and he entered July with nearly $375,000 in his campaign account, Federal Election Commission records show.

The largest contribution to Peters, whose endorsements include U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is $10,000 from the Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based political action committee. He’s also received several contributions from current and former Illinois Senate colleagues.

“To see this kind of enthusiasm fueling our campaign in just the first six weeks is humbling,” Peters, who entered the race in mid-May, said in a statement. “This is grassroots energy we will need as we build a big, broad coalition to take on Donald Trump and his wrecking crew in Congress.”

The quarterly reports for others in the race show Adal Regis, who worked in Kelly’s district office on grants, raised nearly $22,000 and had almost $15,000 on hand as of July 1; while management consultant Eric France raised more than $13,000 and had more than $1,800 on hand. Yumeka Brown, the three-term village clerk of Matteson and a commissioner on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board, had $500 in the bank at the end of June.

Also in the race is Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller of south suburban Lynwood, who officially entered the race after the end of the previous reporting period.

The lone declared Republican candidate is Ashley Ramos, who lost to Kelly in the 2024 general election and didn’t report raising any money in the previous quarter.

Jackson could dramatically alter the Democratic primary race.

The son of civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson and brother of U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned the 2nd District seat Nov. 21, 2012, just weeks after he won reelection despite the revelation a month earlier that federal prosecutors and the FBI were investigating possible misuse of campaign funds.

Jackson had largely disappeared from public view the previous June after taking a medical leave from the House for what aides initially described as exhaustion but was later diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota as bipolar depression.

In February 2013, Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of wire and mail fraud and was sentenced that August to 30 months in prison. Jackson’s now former wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, later served time for federal tax fraud in covering up the spending violations.

Now a talk show host on WVON-AM, Jackson unsuccessfully sought a pardon during Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House.

Jackson was also involved in disgraced former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat of then-incoming President Obama in 2008. Jackson actively sought an appointment to the seat from Blagojevich and federal authorities alleged Blagojevich fundraiser and Jackson family friend Raghuveer Nayak offered to raise up to $6 million in campaign funds for the then governor in exchange for naming Jackson to the Senate.

Jackson said he had no knowledge of the offer. Blagojevich, impeached and imprisoned on federal corruption charges, was pardoned in February by President Donald Trump.

Also giving up a safe Democratic congressional seat in a bid to succeed Durbin is Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg. His decision created what so far is a seven-way Democratic primary race in the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District.

The top fundraiser over the last quarter was Junaid Ahmed of Barrington, who unsuccessfully challenged Krishnamoorthi in the 2022 primary. Ahmed reported raising more than $338,000 through June 30 and ended the quarter with more than $329,000 in his campaign account, federal records show.

The next-highest haul went to Dan Tully, a veteran and lawyer from Carol Stream, who reported raising nearly $205,000 and had more than $199,000 remaining at the end of June.

Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison of Mount Prospect and Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole, reported raising nearly $183,000 and more than $109,000, respectively. Morrison, the first openly LGBTQ member of the Cook County Board, had nearly $153,000 on hand at the end of June, while Bankole, a former Krishnamoorthi staffer, had more than $105,000.

Also cracking six figures was businesswoman Sanjyot Dunung, who reported raising nearly $109,000 but had a little less than $59,000 remaining.

The Democratic field also includes Christ Kallas and Neil Khot.

On the Republican side, Mark Rice, an energy entrepreneur who lost to Krishnamoorthi in the November election, raised $109,000 and had nearly $202,000.

The most crowded Democratic primary field so far is in the race for Schakowsky’s 9th Congressional District seat, representing portions of Chicago’s North Side and North Shore and northwest suburbs.

Illinois newcomer and social media content creator Kat Abughazaleh, who entered the race before Schakowsky announced her retirement, led the pack of 14 Democratic candidates with nearly $905,000 raised, records show. She spent nearly $238,000, ending the quarter with nearly $667,000 on hand.

Her cash on hand total was nearly as much as the next-closest competitor, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, reported raising during the same period. Biss raised nearly $703,000, about half of which his campaign said was raised in the first 24 hours after he declared his candidacy in May. Biss, who on Wednesday received an endorsement from progressive U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, had more than $645,000 on hand at the end of the filing period.

Rounding out the six-figure fundraisers were former Chicago Public Schools board candidate Bruce Leon, who loaned his congressional campaign $610,000, state Sen. Laura Fine of Glenview, who raised nearly $263,000 and had more than $237,000 in her account at the end of June, and Skokie School District 73.5 board member Bushra Amiwala, whose report shows nearly $199,000 raised and more than $191,000 on hand.

Two other candidates with electoral track records, state Rep. Hoan Huynh and state Sen. Mike Simmons, joined the race after the close of the reporting period. Another candidate, former federal prosecutor Nick Pyati of Evanston, entered the fray Tuesday.

Another heated race could be off and running if 15-term Rep. Danny Davis, 83, follows Durbin and Schakowsky into retirement.

A campaign spokeswoman said Wednesday that Davis would make his decision known “in a few weeks.” Candidates can begin collection signatures Aug. 5 for their nominating petitions to get on the primary ballot.

While he could easily turn on the fundraising tap if he decides to run again, Davis reported raising less than $55,000 last quarter, finishing with a little less than $115,000 in his campaign coffers.

Seeing an opportunity, political newcomer Jason Friedman, former president of Friedman Properties, reported raising more than $1 million in the preceding three months, with $906,000 left at the end of June.

“Our campaign to fight for our communities and bring relief to working families is resonating with people across the Chicago area,” Friedman said in a statement. “As I meet with voters and local leaders, I’m energized by the strong support we’ve received since launching our campaign just a couple months ago and eager to build on that momentum to deliver results for the 7th District.”

But the competition likely will be fierce if Davis chooses not to run.

Last week, after the previous reporting period ended, Richard Boykin, a onetime Davis chief of staff and former Cook County commissioner, entered the race. Longtime state Rep. La Shawn Ford also has filed to run for the seat but has said he only will do so if Davis isn’t on the ballot. Ford didn’t report raising any money last quarter.

Even if Davis does run again, Ford said he won’t seek reelection for his state House seat next year. At the end of his current term, he’ll have been in the legislature for 20 years.

“That’s a long time, and I appreciate being able to serve that length of time,” Ford said in a brief interview Wednesday.

Ford said he doesn’t begrudge Davis for taking his time to make a decision about the future.

“Danny deserves the right to make a decision,” he said. “I don’t think his timeframe is going to hurt anyone who might want to run.”

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(Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson contributed.)

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