Content warning: This story contains mentions of sexual misconduct.
The last time a Republican represented Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, Harry Truman was in the White House.
As this year’s race to represent Evanston and surrounding municipalities in Congress barrels toward the March 17 primary election, much attention has been paid to its crowded Democratic contest, which features a sprawling field of 16 candidates — some of whom boast seven-figure war chests and endorsements from national political figures.
But come March, just four candidates will vie for the race’s Republican nomination.
In the fall, paraprofessional Rocío Cleveland, former software developer Paul Friedman, IT consultant Mark Su and pastor John Elleson filed for a chance to represent the district in Washington, D.C.
In the seven decades since a Republican last held the seat in 1949, just three people have been elected to the position. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-Evanston) retirement sparked the district’s first open contest since her initial election in 1998. The 2024 election saw Schakowsky beat Republican Seth Alan Cohen with 68.4% of the vote.
After redistricting in 2021, the district now stretches from Chicago’s far North Side to McHenry County suburbs.
According to the Cook Political Report, the district had a 2025 Partisan Voting Index of D+19, meaning the area voted about 19 points more Democratic than the nation as a whole.
As such, this year’s Republican contenders have attracted little institutional support. Cook County Republican Party Chairman Aaron Del Mar said the party will likely concentrate its resources on congressional races in the 7th, 8th and 17th districts instead, where the party thinks it has a better chance of winning.
Del Mar noted the strength of Democratic hopefuls like Mayor Daniel Biss’ endorsements and State Rep. Hoan Huynh’s (D-Chicago) transparency with constituents.
“But realistically, outside of putting up a strong candidate, this district is going to be an uphill climb to be able to win it — even as an open seat,” Del Mar said.
A mandate from God
The call to run for office came in a “vivid” dream from God, Lake County-based Cleveland explained.
In it, Cleveland said she was attending a political meeting when people around her began collapsing after drinking water she believed was “poisoned.” After hearing explosions, she then rescued a crying baby before being greeted by a bright light. Interpreting the experience as divine instruction, Cleveland decided to throw her hat into the ring.
Cleveland entered politics as a Hispanic outreach coordinator for former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran’s sheriff campaign and also volunteered during his campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court. She did not launch a congressional campaign two years ago because she believed another Republican candidate had a stronger chance in the general election, Cleveland said.
But this time, her motivation is two-pronged: She said she must be “obedient” to God’s commands, and she’s tired of the district “not being represented accordingly.”
At a November candidate forum in Northbrook, Illinois, Cleveland presented Democratic candidate Kat Abughazaleh with a “gift bag” for use in prison following the latter’s federal indictment. Months later, Cleveland defended her actions to The Daily.
“I don’t regret anything that I did,” Cleveland said. “I believe that I was standing for what is right.”
Cleveland claimed that community members thanked her afterward.
But Del Mar had sharp words for Cleveland, calling her a “bad actor” and suggesting her “unacceptable antics” have made the race “radioactive.”
“She just doesn’t represent our beliefs and our values and conducts herself in an unbecoming way,” Del Mar said. “And I don’t want our party to be associated with that type of behavior.”
In response, Cleveland wrote in a statement to The Daily that Del Mar’s allegation says “far more about him than it does about (her),” and criticized his personal conduct.
“I will continue to expose corruption, immorality, and incompetence in both parties,” she wrote.
According to Cleveland, she has worked for several years as a paraprofessional, supporting multilingual learners and students with special needs. She supports volunteering to help the less fortunate and stressed the importance of raising “more resilient children.”
One of Cleveland’s top policy concerns is curriculum and student privacy in public schools. In particular, she believes that schools should not teach about gender identity, abortion or other sensitive issues without parental consent.
Additionally, she said that schools should provide separate bathrooms for transgender or gender-nonconforming students. Cleveland added that she believes public schools unfairly restrict Christian expression while allowing other practices she perceives as religious in nature — such as yoga — to be taught in classrooms.
“I see how much the public school system has failed so many students. I believe that we parents need the option of having school choice,” Cleveland said.
In terms of public safety, she called for safer streets in the district — as well as across the state and nation — and for stronger border security. She framed the story of her cousin being abducted in Mexico as a cautionary tale for what could happen in the U.S.
Cleveland also attacked Illinois’ SAFE-T Act — a criminal justice reform package that eliminated cash bail, added police accountability standards and changed detention and sentencing rules — arguing that it has weakened public safety and failed to support victims of crime.
“When we have people coming into our nation that do not have our best interests and are not all about America first and being assimilated to our culture, these are the things that we could potentially face,” she said.
Cleveland said she plans to release legislation focused on pedophiles, men’s rights and sexual assault.
She emphasized that she does not take PAC money and does not want to be influenced by lobbying groups. Additionally, she said she believes both parties should be held accountable for failures and poor behavior.
“As a conservative, we can’t be pointing the finger at Democrats and saying, ‘Oh, they do this, they do that,’” Cleveland said. “We need to look at our own party too, and hold our own accountable.”
‘Old-school conservative’ Friedman talks checkered past
Former software developer Friedman said he hopes to bring a cross-partisan approach to Washington, where he wants to get “Congress to work again.”
According to Friedman, a significant portion of the 9th district feels politically unrepresented.
“This district is gerrymandered to be roughly one-third Republican and two-thirds Democrat,” he said. “So I’m going to give those people a voice.”
Friedman did not shy away from addressing his status on North Carolina’s Sex Offender and Public Protection registry.
In 1999, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 13-year-old girl at an Ann Arbor, Michigan shop he co-owned. Friedman was 27 at the time.
Friedman acknowledged that his “lips touched her cheek” and that he admitted this to the police. According to him, the authorities pursued the case on that basis. However, Friedman said he denied additional allegations, including harassment.
He noted that after moving to North Carolina 11 years ago, state authorities required him to register there. Friedman said he has since unsuccessfully petitioned to have his name removed and stressed that he does not consider himself a sex offender.
“There is a difference between being on the sex offender registry and being a sex offender,” Friedman said.
Friedman explained that he first began thinking of running for office after losing his job in July.
While volunteering at the Evanston Farmers’ Market, he helped former Democratic candidate Jill Manrique’s campaign collect signatures before becoming a candidate himself. Ultimately, Manrique did not file to appear on the Democratic primary ballot.
Now, Friedman said he’s trying to win the Republican primary while staying under a $5,000 fundraising threshold.
A self-described “old-school conservative,” Friedman said he believes the federal government should stay out of local matters.
For example, he said that although the federal government is responsible for addressing immigration, he’s concerned about the recent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, especially considering what he called their lack of training.
“Why are they armed to the teeth?” Friedman said. “My thought was the ICE agents rightly have to do a job, but if they are going to come into your local district, they have to coordinate with the locals. The people who should be armed are the local law enforcement, not the feds.”
He also supports creating independent commissions to draw congressional districts and advocates for term limits in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. On economic issues, Friedman said he favors policies that strengthen American manufacturing and support working families.
Within the blue-leaning district, Friedman believes there are more Republicans than people think. However, he added that he has already encountered anti-Republican sentiment during his congressional run.
Friedman said he attended an Indivisible rally and helped move supplies to attendees’ cars afterward. After discussing his candidacy as a Republican, Friedman claimed he was met with an expletive and told his help wasn’t needed anymore.
So far, his campaign has reinforced his belief that more everyday citizens should get involved in politics, Friedman said. Now, he hopes that he can inspire others to pursue this path.
“Running for office is a blast,” Friedman said. “If you’re a citizen, just get into the process. Run for office. Be involved.”
Su seeks common ground
As a resident of the 9th district for almost three decades, Rogers Park-based IT consultant Su hopes to see better representation for his community.
“I saw, in 26 years, one congresswoman, same voice for over 20 years. Now I think it needs a new, different voice,” Su said, describing this year’s race as “an equal opportunity” contest.
Su said he also runs his own media platform — Chinese-language site USCN News — which covers mostly Chicago-area and Illinois-focused news, often centering on the Chinese American community.
Broadly, Su hopes to reduce political division in Washington. He said that he doesn’t want either party to win — and claimed that he is the only candidate willing to work with both sides to “reduce conflict” and “work on a common interest.”
Conflict between Trump and the voting public, as well as increased political polarization, were some of the other issues that pushed him to run this year, Su said.
“I want to make sure the majority of the families are insured,” Su said, adding that he hopes to make sure low-income and disabled community members also receive proper healthcare coverage.
Although Su described ICE’s actions as “extreme,” he criticized Democratic candidates who have protested at the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.
“This kind of thing is not what I want to do,” he said. “But I want to reduce ICE action.”
Su is currently the leading Republican candidate in fundraising, with just over $15,500. However, he still lags far behind most Democratic candidates. As of the end of last year, Biss and Abughazaleh had both raised over $1 million, and many other Democrats had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, too.
According to Su, while most significant endorsements go to the Democratic contenders in the area, his independence sets him apart.
“That’s my big difference between me and several of the other top Democratic candidates,” he said.
A pastor turns to politics
This isn’t Elleson’s first political campaign. The Arlington Heights pastor previously ran for this seat in 2018 — and lost with 26.5% of the vote to Schakowsky’s 73.5%.
For nearly 24 years, he has ministered at Lakewood Chapel — a congregation he said reflects the district’s political lean, estimating that Democrats make up around 70% of its members.
Elleson describes himself as a “compassionate conservative,” stressing that he supports Republican values but believes they should be paired with empathy for struggling community members.
He said he supports stricter federal immigration enforcement but believes it should be carried out humanely. According to Elleson, many in his congregation have been afraid to attend church in recent months, and in the past, he has personally written letters and appeared in court to support families facing deportation.
“I help. I’ve helped more people than probably any of the Democrat candidates. That’s what I do.” Elleson said. “But … you just can’t let the gates open completely. You got to know who’s coming in the country, you really do, or you’re going to have a problem.”
Beyond Illinois, Elleson has taught English and U.S. history at universities in China following the Tiananmen Square incident. Apart from that, he said he has also supported community projects in Africa and Central America.
One of Elleson’s top policy priorities is the nation’s growing debt and perceived financial instability. He said the federal government must reduce spending and return to balanced budgets to protect the next generation.
“One of the reasons I’m running is, sometimes in a district like this, it’s hard to get good people to run, and I think there is a shot now,” he said. “This is a more interesting year, and you need a good candidate like me.”
Grassroots against the grain
Still, local Republican leaders say the path forward for any Republican nominee remains steep.
“As you’re doing door-knocking, there’s probably not a very bright reception,” Del Mar said. “The cost of getting your name out there is expensive.”
As the Democratic field turns to mailers and television ads, it will be difficult for Republican candidates who sport comparatively smaller budgets to afford these publicity methods, Del Mar said. Instead, according to him, they’ll have to run grassroots campaigns.
Currently, only Cleveland, Friedman and Su have public campaign finance filings listed with the Federal Election Commission. Beyond Su, Friedman raised $2,700 and reported no expenditures in the period ending on Dec. 31. Cleveland had no processed data available for either period.
Former Republican congressional candidate and Assyrian GOP Vice Chair Sargis Sangari lost against Elleson in the 2018 primary. He said Elleson is unlikely to prevail in the general election this year.
“To try to fight against a machine that has a gerrymandered-district that is set up in a way to ensure, statistically, you’ll have less of a chance of winning as an opposition party candidate, whether it be here in Illinois with the Democrats or whether it be even in Indiana,” Sangari said, “People have to at least get to know you in five different occasions for them to even remember your name.”
Sangari said that the Assyrian GOP would not be endorsing anyone until after the primary.
However, he thinks that all the candidates, regardless of party affiliation, lack a long-term vision for the district. Even as they fight for a seat in Congress, Sangari said candidates should be thinking about the future.
“They’re all short-term-looking, hoping that once they shake your hand, you’re going to run to the polls and vote for them,” he said.
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