Douglas Bennett claims narrow victory and chance to take on Brad Schneider in 10th District race

March 21--Republicans appear to have made their choice in the 10th Congressional District primary as both of Douglas Bennett's competitors have conceded the tight race.

Three Republicans were running in the north suburban 10th Congressional District for a chance to take on incumbent U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D- Deerfield ).

The contenders were Jeremy Wynes, a foreign policy lobbyist from Highland Park ; Sapan Shah, a medical malpractice insurance broker from Libertyville and Bennett, a business consultant from Deerfield. None of the candidates have previously held elected office.

On Wednesday morning, Bennett was leading with almost 36 percent of the vote, Wynes had close to 35 percent and Shah was near 30 percent, with all precincts reporting unofficial vote totals. Late arriving mail-in ballots and provisional ballots have yet to be counted.

"We had a good message and we had a tremendous outpouring of support from people who went walking door to door," said Bennett, who credits his victory to the enthusiastic volunteers who worked on his behalf.

His opponents were quick to support Bennett in his general election quest.

"I talked to Doug this morning to congratulate him on his victory in yesterday's primary," Wynes said Wednesday morning. "He has my full support in the general election. It's time for the party across Illinois and here in the 10th District to unite and work together to win in November."

Chicago Tribune staff

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Bennett raised the least amount of money of the three candidates, about $151,000, and had $67,000 on hand as of Feb. 28, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

"We had to live with what we had, and we ran a really tight campaign," Bennett said. "It was more grass roots, more knocking on doors. People came out for us and we did pretty well."

Shah issued an emailed statement and said he would support Bennett in his bid to unseat Schneider.

"Unfortunately with last night's record low voter turnout, it's clear that we came up short of our objective," a portion of the statement read. "However, as a political outsider, I'm proud of the campaign we ran, and I can't thank my team, supporters, and volunteers enough for all of their hard work."

FEC filings show Wynes raised about $375,000 and had $136,000 on hand at the end of last month. Shah was the best funded. As of Feb. 28, his campaign receipts had totaled $719,000, including a loan he made to himself. He'd spent about half of that amount and had about $354,000 on hand, according to filings.

The district has flipped between a Democrat and a Republican since boundaries were redrawn following the last census. The district runs along the North Shore from roughly Glencoe to the Wisconsin border and takes in northwest suburbs roughly from Prospect Heights to Fox Lake.

Before becoming a full-time candidate, Wynes, 38, served as Midwest coordinator for the Republican Jewish Coalition and was previously regional director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC.

Shah, 37, who ran as Dr. Shah for Congress, is currently senior vice president for Flagship Healthcare. He holds a medical degree, as well as a law degree, but says he never completed a medical residency and hasn't been licensed to practice.

Bennett is currently vice chairman of the West Deerfield Township Republican Organization.

A social conservative, Bennett was the only one of the three candidates to oppose abortion rights and same-sex marriage. He ran unsuccessfully for the Lake County Board in 2012.

As for the general election, Bennett believes constituents in the 10th Congressional District are pragmatists who will evaluate the candidates based on who will make a difference in their day to day lives.

"The district has more than an average number of people who want to listen to the solutions that people are bringing to the table," Bennett said. "I don't think it is about liberal ideas or conservative views as much as it is about solving problems in people's lives."

Former U.S. Representative Mark Kirk , a Republican, held the 10th district seat for five terms before waging a successful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010. That year, Republican Robert Dold was elected to succeed Kirk in the U.S. House.

After a remapping gave Democrats more of an edge, Schneider won the seat in 2012 -- only to lose it to Dold in the 2014 election. Both times, the winner won with roughly 51 percent of the vote.

Schneider reclaimed the seat from Dold in 2016 with less than 53 percent of the vote in a year when Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton were at the top of the ballot.

After his latest defeat, Dold announced he would not be running in 2018.

Schneider, who had no Democratic challenger in the Tuesday primary, will be heading into the fall campaign with a financial advantage. As of Feb. 28, he had more than $1.9 million on hand in his campaign fund, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

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