U.S. House · Illinois's 2nd District

Parts of Chicago's South Side, south suburban Cook County, and Will County

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 20 claims re-checked against their sources · 1 corrected · 1 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

Reworded Ashley Banks priority quote to match Ballotpedia's exact wording ("Real Experience. Real Representation.") instead of a loosely paraphrased lowercase version.
Removed Donna Miller's healthcare_public position: her source quote ("expand access to healthcare, particularly for women and communities of color") is vague general language, not a direct statement on expanding public health coverage specifically.

This is an open seat. Incumbent Robin Kelly (D) ran for U.S. Senate instead of seeking re-election to this seat and did not appear on the District 2 primary ballot. Donna Miller, a Cook County Board Commissioner, won the March 17, 2026 Democratic primary over ten other candidates. Mike Noack won the Republican primary.[1]
Ashley Banks is running as a write-in independent candidate.[1]

On the ballot · 3 candidates

Donna MillerDCook County Board of Commissioners (since 2018)

Raised $2.5M · spent $2.4M · $41K cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Mike NoackR Ashley BanksIND

The candidates, in full

Donna Miller

DCook County Board of Commissioners (since 2018)

Won the March 17, 2026 Democratic primary

Miller is a Cook County Board Commissioner with a career in sales and marketing, including work with Genentech, UnitedHealth Group, and the American Heart Association.[1]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

In their words — priorities

Says she has "spent her career serving the community and fighting to lower costs for working families, increase opportunity, and expand access to healthcare, particularly for women and communities of color."[1]
Cites family legacy in public service, saying her great-grandfather was a Pullman Porter and her grandmother, mother, and sister were all teachers.[1]
Says she is running "to fight back against those in Washington who are trying to tear down all of the progress she's made for working families" and to "build a future we can all afford."[1]

Background

Earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Howard University.[1]
Worked in sales training with Genentech and UnitedHealth Group, and in marketing with the American Heart Association; worked as an independent sales-training and marketing consultant for 15 years.[1]
Has served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners since 2018.[1]

Campaign money

Raised $2.5M · spent $2.4M · $41K cash on hand (through 2026-06-30) FEC filing ↗

Shareable profile page

Mike Noack

Won the March 17, 2026 Republican primary

Noack won the Republican primary for this open seat.[1]

Little public record found for this candidate.

Shareable profile page

Ashley Banks

IND

Running as a write-in independent candidate

Banks is a Chicago-area freelance journalist, photographer, and election judge running an independent write-in campaign focused on government transparency.[1]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

In their words — priorities

Says her experience living and working in the district gives her real experience representing it, summed up in her campaign's own phrase: "Real Experience. Real Representation."[1]
Campaign focuses on "restoring respect, value, and transparency between the people and those elected to serve them."[1]
Says she stands for "efficiency, timely action, and clear plans that keep District 2 moving forward."[1]

Background

Graduate of Crete-Monee High School; pursuing degrees in journalism at Olive-Harvey College and international marketing at DePaul University, by her own account.[1]
Has worked as a CTA bus driver, truck driver, tutor, and Amazon warehouse employee, by her own account.[1]

Shareable profile page

Research notes & limits

No campaign website, public statements, or Candidate Connection survey were found for Mike Noack beyond his name appearing on the primary and general-election ballot; his entry is marked minimal. Miller's and Banks's material comes from Ballotpedia's compiled candidate profiles (Miller's campaign website and LinkedIn; Banks's Candidate Connection survey).

Sources · 1

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

1.Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference