Casten easily defeats pair of challengers in 6th District primary

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten easily dispatched Mahnoor Ahmad of Oakbrook Terrace and Charles Hughes of Chicago in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the largely suburban 6th District as he seeks a fourth term.

With 75% of the vote counted, Casten led with 77% of the vote over Ahmad, with 14%, and Hughes, with 9%, according to unofficial results.

The former owner of a clean energy business, Casten has made taking on climate change a pillar of his tenure in Washington. He’s also campaigned heavily on protecting reproductive rights.

Ahmad challenged Casten from the left. She supports a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All.”

Hughes, from Chicago’s Garfield Ridge neighborhood near Midway Airport, was a precinct worker for former longtime U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski. He finished third in the 2022 Democratic primary, trailing Casten and Newman with just over 3% of the vote.

Casten, who unseated six-term Republican Rep. Peter Roskam in 2018 to take over the seat once held by conservative icon Henry Hyde, bested freshman U.S. Rep. Marie Newman of La Grange in the Democratic primary two years ago in the state’s only incumbent-on-incumbent Democratic congressional primary.

In the 2022 general election, Casten defeated Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, a Republican who gained notoriety for challenging state COVID-19 mandates and aligned himself with the far-right group Awake Illinois.

The 6th District includes stretches from Lombard southeast to Tinley Park, taking in Chicago’s Beverly and Mount Greenwood neighborhoods and areas near Midway.

Casten will face Republican Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn in the Nov. 5 general election.

The following items were taken from police and court reports and news releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

Frankfort

ANIMAL CRUELTY: A former Frankfort man accused of breaking his girlfriend’s 14-week-old kitten’s “baby teeth” and ribs in January 2023 was arraigned March 11 on a charge of aggravated animal cruelty, according to police and Will County court records online. Spencer A. Corbitt, 19, Colorado Springs, Colorado, is scheduled to appear April 23 on the felony charge, court records show.

Glenwood

ILLEGAL GUNS: Cook County sheriff’s police arrested a South Chicago Heights resident and three Chicago Heights residents on gun charges March 11 at North Wabash Avenue and School Street, police said. Allen Johnson, 23, South Chicago Heights, is charged with unlawful use ofaweaponbyafelonand possession of a stolen vehicle, and Airrion Smith, 22, and Remy Gaston, 21, both of Chicago Heights, are charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and trespassing to a vehicle. Milion Carroll, 21, Chicago Heights, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a misdemeanor, police said. Deputies recovered two Glock 19 pistols equipped with a switch to enable firing as an automatic weapon, two unmodified 9 mm pistols, a .357 caliber handgun and 146 bullets, police said.

Homewood

CARJACKING ARREST: Santo Barr, 20, Homewood, and Katasha Asielue, 28, Chicago, appeared at a detention hearing March 3 on a charge of aggravated vehicular hijacking, according to police and court records. They were arrested March 1 in connection with the Feb. 27 theft of a car at gunpoint in the 800 block of Elder Road, police said.

ROBBERY: Corey Lindsey, 25, 400 block of Minerva Avenue, Glenwood, was arrested and accused of aggravated robbery March 12 in the 17500 block of Halsted Street after snatching a 60-year-old woman’s purse, causing her to fall to the ground, police said.

Lansing

ILLEGAL GUN: Brian L. Jones, 32, Lansing, was arrested and accused of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell March 6 after a search warrant conducted at his home, police said. He is scheduled to appear in Cook County court in Markham March 22 and remains in Cook County Jail, according to sheriff ’s records online.

Orland Park

HOT FOOD: A 31-yearold Chicago woman was arrested for public indecency March 13 after removing her clothes while running from a restaurant into an Orland Square mall parking lot, police said. Monique Walker told officers responding to numerous 911 calls that she began stripping after eating chicken wings that were “too hot” at the Cheese Cake Factory, police said.

Park Forest

BATTERY: Christopher M. Williams, 30, 100 block of Forest Boulevard, Park Forest, was arrested Feb. 27 and March 2 and accused of battery after fondling the behinds of two women he didn’t know at different locations, police said. AGGRAVATED

ASSAULT: A night shift manager at Taco Bell, 413 Sauk Trail, was arrested and accused of aggravated assault and with battery after he attacked a shift manager March 6, overturning tables and chairs and cutting the other man with a pocket knife, police said. Calvin J. Johnson, 51, Chicago, was upset the manager compensated a customer with two free tacos for a delayed order, police said.

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY: An apartment door lock was reported removed, the home ransacked and perfumes and clothing stolen March 5 in the 23400 block of Western Avenue, police said.

University Park

DOMESTIC BATTERY: Lyndon N. Dembry, 32, 700 block of Red Oak Lane, was arrested Saturday on a warrant charging him with two counts of aggravated domestic battery/strangulation stemming from Jan. 16, according to police and Will County records online. The victim/complainant, who had red marks on both sides of her neck, said she almost passed out while being choked, police said.

— Dennis Sullivan