Melissa Bean

Melissa Bean is the Democratic nominee for the open Illinois 8th District seat, which she represented in Congress from 2005 to 2011.[1][2][4] A former home-based business owner and member of the Blue Dog and New Democrat coalitions, she lost the seat in 2010, later worked in finance and business leadership, and won the March 2026 Democratic primary; her campaign website says she is running on housing, healthcare, energy and education costs, workforce training, and support for workers and small business owners.[1][3][4]

Bean was born Melissa Luburich on January 22, 1962, in Chicago and grew up in a Serbian-American family in the Chicago suburbs.[4] She attended Maine East High School, earned an associate degree from Oakton Community College in 1982 and a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in 2000.[2][4] Before entering elected office, she was president of a home-based business, Sales Resources Inc.[4]

Bean ran for the 8th District seat in 2002, losing to Republican incumbent Phil Crane with 43 percent of the vote, and defeated Crane in a 2004 rematch with 52 percent.[4] When she took office on January 3, 2005, she became the first Democrat to represent the district since it was formed in 1935.[4] She served in the U.S. House until 2011 as a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition, with seats on the Financial Services and Small Business committees, and lost her 2010 re-election bid to Republican Joe Walsh by 291 votes.[4] Her campaign website says she voted for the Affordable Care Act, TARP, the 2009 stimulus bill, the auto industry bailout, the "Cash for Clunkers" program and cap-and-trade climate legislation.[3]

In 2011 Bean became president and CEO of the Executives Club of Chicago, and she later launched her own consulting firm and served as chair of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase.[2][4][5] She became CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors, part of Mesirow Financial, in 2019, and Ballotpedia also lists affiliations with One Million Degrees, Junior Achievement and World Business Chicago.[2][4][5] She announced in September 2025 that she would seek her former seat after Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi entered the U.S. Senate race, and won the March 17, 2026 Democratic primary with 31.6% of the vote in a field of eight.[1][4] She is married to Alan Bean.[4]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.