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Bill Foster

Democrat. Illinois’s 11th District. Re-elected on November 3, 2026.

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Age on Election Day 2028
73
On November 7, 2028. Born October 7, 1955.2
Lean
D+6
Lean Democratic. Cook PVI, 2026 lines.
In the House since
2013
Served since January 3, 2013. Earlier service: 2008 to 2011.4
Cash on hand
$2.63M
$2,629,689, from the Federal Election Commission.15

Overview

November 3, 2026 election
Re-elected
Over Jeff Walter (R). Called by NBC News on November 4, 2026. Takes the seat in the 120th Congress on January 3, 2027.1

2026 primary
Unopposed in the 2026 primary, March 17, 2026.
The state in 2024
Harris won Illinois in 2024.
2032 redistricting
Not flagged for 2032 redistricting risk.

Lean is the Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) on the district’s 2026 election lines: R+10 and up is solidly Republican, R+5 to R+9 lean Republican, D+4 to R+4 swing, D+5 to D+9 lean Democratic and D+10 and up solidly Democratic. A 2032 redistricting flag marks one of seven states American Ascent watches for the maps drawn after the 2030 census, with who draws the map there.

Sources (2)
  1. 1NBC News: the November 3, 2026 result. Checked November 4, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2The congress-legislators dataset of every member of Congress: birthday. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

In the House

Leadership posts, 119th Congress
  • Ranking Member of the Financial Services subcommittee on Financial Institutions
Committees, 119th Congress
  • Financial Services
  • Science, Space, and Technology

Leadership posts and committees in the 119th Congress, as the Clerk of the House listed them on October 1, 2026; the 120th Congress names its own when it convenes on January 3, 2027. Chairman and Chairwoman are written as Chair. A gold mark names a leadership post. Years in the House come from the public congress-legislators record of every member’s terms.

Sources (2)
  1. 3Bill Foster’s official site Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 4Official congressional biography Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Election history

The 2026 primary, who was on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and what recent races in the seat cost.

2026 primary

Primary date
March 17, 2026
Kind
Democratic primary
Result
UnopposedThe only name on the ballot, March 17.
Votes cast
69,637

On the November 3, 2026 ballot

  • Jeff Walter (Republican)

The only name on the Democratic ballot.

Official results (opens in a new tab)5 from the state’s election office. Every name printed on the November 3, 2026 ballot for the seat, from the source shown (opens in a new tab); write-in candidates are left out.

What a race here costs

Facts from free public data: the TV markets the district sits in, what every campaign and outside group spent in recent races, and the votes cast. Spending is campaign spending, less contributions to party committees and other candidates, plus independent expenditures. A vote is any vote cast in that contest.15

TV markets

The TV markets that cover the district
MarketTV homesOf the districtDistrict is, of market
Chicago, IL (rank 3)3,654,75096.5%7.4%
Rockford, IL (rank 137)180,9103.5%5.6%

Markets are Nielsen’s Designated Market Areas, matched to the district county by county on the 119th Congress lines (8 counties or parts). Shares are of people, from the 2020 Census. TV homes are Nielsen’s 2024-25 estimates. A small share of a large market means most of what a TV buy reaches lives outside the district.11

2026 primary, March 17, 2026

$632,151 spent · $9.08 a vote

2026 primary: each candidate’s votes and campaign spending
CandidateVotesSpent
Bill Foster (D)69,637$632,151
Outside money$0

69,637 votes cast, on the 2022 lines. Results (opens in a new tab)5.

2024 primary, March 19, 2024

$2,061,081 spent · $44.89 a vote

2024 primary: each candidate’s votes and campaign spending
CandidateVotesSpent
Bill Foster (D)35,159$1,138,437
Qasim Rashid (D)10,754$881,793
Outside money: DMFI PAC$40,851

45,913 votes cast, on the 2022 lines. Outside money: $40,851 for the member, $0 against, $0 for or against others. Results (opens in a new tab)8.

2024 general, Nov. 5, 2024

$1,211,578 spent · $3.37 a vote

2024 general: each candidate’s votes and campaign spending
CandidateVotesSpent
Bill Foster (D)199,825$759,355
Jerry Evans (R)159,630$361,818
Anna Schiefelbein (Write-in)229No report
Outside money: Project 218, ADVANCE LIBERTY PAC$90,405

359,684 votes cast, on the 2022 lines. Outside money: $62,305 for the member, $28,100 against, $0 for or against others. Results (opens in a new tab)9.

2022 general, Nov. 8, 2022

$7,077,811 spent · $26.79 a vote

2022 general: each candidate’s votes and campaign spending
CandidateVotesSpent
Bill Foster (D)149,172$4,960,479
Catalina Lauf (R)115,069$945,925
Outside money: CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION, Restoration PAC, DEFENDING THE REPUBLIC PAC INC.$1,171,407

264,241 votes cast, on the 2022 lines. Outside money: $0 for the member, $804,367 against, $367,039 for or against others. Results (opens in a new tab)10.

Google election ads

$2,848,300 on the lines Google labels 2022; $897,400 on the lines Google labels 2012

Election ads for every race, the presidency included, served in the district on Google, YouTube and Google’s partner sites since 2018, rounded by Google to the nearest hundred dollars. Report updated Oct. 31, 2026.14

Sources (10)
  1. 52026 primary, official results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 6The November 3, 2026 ballot for the seat Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 72026 primary, results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 82024 primary, results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 92024 general, results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  6. 102022 general, results Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  7. 11BritCrit/dma_county_zip: county FIPS to Nielsen DMA code and name (Nielsen edition not stated; published Dec. 22, 2021; uses pre-2015 county codes), checked against Nielsen’s 2016 county list Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  8. 12Nielsen, Local Television Market Universe Estimates (TV homes and rank, 210 DMAs), as reproduced in full by National Media Spots Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  9. 13U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census: 119th Congressional District Summary File (county or part within district) and PL 94-171 block populations for 2026 plans; county totals are 2020 counts Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  10. 14Google Political Ads transparency report Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Financial records

Cash on hand
$2,629,68915

Past cycles

Money raised, the share from individual donors, and cash on hand, by past cycle
CycleRaisedFrom individualsCash at year end
2020$2,418,56152%$3,736,201
2022$3,332,17767%$805,115
2024$3,282,46662%$1,550,565

Cash on hand from the member’s latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Past cycles: money raised over each two-year cycle and cash on hand on December 31 of its election year, from the same filings, in dollars as reported. From individuals is the share of money raised that came from individual donors.

Sources (5)
  1. 15FEC bulk data: candidates, committee linkages, Form 3 report summaries, operating expenditures, independent expenditures Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 16FEC, Federal Elections 2022 (2022 general results and primary dates) Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 17FEC, 2024 congressional general-election candidates Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 18FEC, 2024 congressional primary dates Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 19Clerk of the House, Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 2024 Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Scorecards

Conservative scorecards, out of 100

Heritage Action (opens in a new tab) lifetime
5
Club for Growth (opens in a new tab) lifetime
6
Turning Point Action (opens in a new tab) lifetime
21
GOP Platform (opens in a new tab) 2025
10

Conservative average

10.4

Heritage Action and Turning Point Action are the member’s lifetime scores, read from those pages. Club for Growth is the member’s lifetime rating, and GOP Platform measures agreement with the national Republican Party platform in 2025, published by the Institute for Legislative Analysis.

The scorecard average covers all four. No score means none was published, not zero, and is left out of the average: the record says “No score published”.

How to read this

Each group’s name links to the member’s own page on its scorecard, opened on the date shown.

Progressive scorecards, out of 100

League of Conservation Voters (opens in a new tab) lifetime
96
Progressive Punch (opens in a new tab) lifetime, all votes
92
The link opens the scorecard’s list for the state, which shows this score: the member’s own page is not available.
Stop Corruption Now (Democracy Defenders Action) (opens in a new tab) 119th Congress, 10 measures
100

Progressive average

95.9

Mirrored for every member, of either party: the League of Conservation Voters’ lifetime score, read from the member’s page; Progressive Punch’s lifetime score on all votes, read from its House table; and Democracy Defenders Action’s Stop Corruption Now score for the 119th Congress (September 16, 2026), its total on 10 anti-corruption and pro-democracy votes and cosponsorships, shown out of 100. The progressive average covers the three; no score means none was published (Stop Corruption Now did not grade members in office for less than a year, or certain current and former House leaders).

Immigration accountability

IAP Action score
-121
Rank in the House on this score
326 of 431

The Immigration Accountability Project’s IAP Action score counts sponsorship, cosponsorship, and votes on immigration. A running total, not a percentage. Higher means more restrictive on immigration.

Second Amendment grade

Gun Owners of America, 2024
F

Gun Owners of America’s 2024 grades, its latest complete set, from its 2024 Voter Guide, A+ to F-.

Sources (4)
  1. 20Heritage Action scorecard, Bill Foster’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 21Club for Growth scorecard, Bill Foster’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 22Turning Point Action scorecard, Bill Foster’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 23GOP Platform scorecard, Bill Foster’s page Retrieved October 31, 2026. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Endorsements

For the 2026 race.

Endorsed: Hakeem Jeffries.

None on record: Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Democratic Socialists of America.

Endorsed: the group endorsed the member for 2026. None on record: no 2026 endorsement in the endorsement records. Mirrored for Democrats: Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and four Democratic-side groups, as Republicans are checked against Donald Trump and three Republican-side groups. The Democratic Socialists of America counts only its national endorsements, not a local chapter’s.

Sources

Each section lists its own sources, numbered through the page. Here they are together.

All sources for this record (23)

Overview

  1. 1NBC News: the November 3, 2026 result. (opens in a new tab) Checked November 4, 2026.
  2. 2The congress-legislators dataset of every member of Congress: birthday. (opens in a new tab)

In the House

  1. 3Bill Foster’s official site (opens in a new tab)
  2. 4Official congressional biography (opens in a new tab)

Election history

  1. 52026 primary, official results (opens in a new tab)
  2. 6The November 3, 2026 ballot for the seat (opens in a new tab)
  3. 72026 primary, results (opens in a new tab)
  4. 82024 primary, results (opens in a new tab)
  5. 92024 general, results (opens in a new tab)
  6. 102022 general, results (opens in a new tab)
  7. 11BritCrit/dma_county_zip: county FIPS to Nielsen DMA code and name (Nielsen edition not stated; published Dec. 22, 2021; uses pre-2015 county codes), checked against Nielsen’s 2016 county list (opens in a new tab)
  8. 12Nielsen, Local Television Market Universe Estimates (TV homes and rank, 210 DMAs), as reproduced in full by National Media Spots (opens in a new tab)
  9. 13U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census: 119th Congressional District Summary File (county or part within district) and PL 94-171 block populations for 2026 plans; county totals are 2020 counts (opens in a new tab)
  10. 14Google Political Ads transparency report (opens in a new tab)

Financial records

  1. 15FEC bulk data: candidates, committee linkages, Form 3 report summaries, operating expenditures, independent expenditures (opens in a new tab)
  2. 16FEC, Federal Elections 2022 (2022 general results and primary dates) (opens in a new tab)
  3. 17FEC, 2024 congressional general-election candidates (opens in a new tab)
  4. 18FEC, 2024 congressional primary dates (opens in a new tab)
  5. 19Clerk of the House, Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 2024 (opens in a new tab)

Scorecards

  1. 20Heritage Action scorecard, Bill Foster’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.
  2. 21Club for Growth scorecard, Bill Foster’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.
  3. 22Turning Point Action scorecard, Bill Foster’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.
  4. 23GOP Platform scorecard, Bill Foster’s page (opens in a new tab) Retrieved October 31, 2026.

Also used, named without a link

  • District lean: the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index, 2026 and 2025 editions.
  • Committees and leadership posts in the 119th Congress: the Clerk of the House, as listed on October 1, 2026. Years in the House: the public congress-legislators record of every member’s terms.
  • Cash on hand and past cycles: the campaign’s Federal Election Commission filings.
  • Immigration: the Immigration Accountability Project. Second Amendment: Gun Owners of America, 2024 Voter Guide.
  • Endorsements: 2026 endorsement records.

Continue

Record 50 of 152 in the House field, in order of state and district.

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