Overview

• At a Chicago West Side press conference, Davis said he will not seek reelection in 2026 and officially endorsed State Rep. La Shawn Ford as his preferred successor.
• His decision adds to vacancies left by Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, making four open congressional seats in Illinois for the next cycle.
• Ford faces a crowded Democratic primary that includes former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, ex-City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and businessman Jason Friedman.
• A senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and former Congressional Black Caucus leader, Davis’s retirement reshapes fiscal and social justice leadership in the delegation.
• Illinois’s 7th District, encompassing the West Side, South Side and parts of downtown Chicago, remains a safely Democratic seat virtually guaranteeing the primary winner a general election victory.