Felix Tello

Felix Tello (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 7th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 17, 2026.

Tello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2026

Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)

Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 7

La Shawn Ford, Chad Koppie, and Lien Choi are running in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 7 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		La Shawn Ford (D)
		Chad Koppie (R)
		Lien Choi (Independent) (Write-in)

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Jabari Taylor (Independent)
Nathan Billips (Independent)
Anita Rao (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7 on March 17, 2026.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	La Shawn Ford	23.7	24,408
	Melissa Conyears-Ervin	20.5	21,120
	Anthony Driver Jr.	11.6	11,943
	Kina Collins	9.5	9,735
	Thomas Fisher	7.6	7,865
	Jason Friedman	7.3	7,559
	Anabel Mendoza	5.5	5,610
	Reed Showalter	4.5	4,620
	Richard Boykin	4.1	4,173
	Jazmin Robinson	2.7	2,760
	Rory Hoskins	1.9	1,990
	David Ehrlich	0.7	756
	Felix Tello	0.3	355

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 102,894
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7

Chad Koppie defeated Patricia Easley in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7 on March 17, 2026.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chad Koppie	65.0	3,416
	Patricia Easley	35.0	1,843

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,259
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Tekita Martinez (R)

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

Felix Tello completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tello's responses.

Expand All

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

We the People. Every bill, every vote—your voice shapes Congress. I will make our district a national model for direct, digital, and transparent representation. Through bill-by-bill accountability, you decide how I vote. Our agenda: five prioritized Acts ready to introduce and build coalitions to pass. No more broken promises—true voter consultation becomes representative action. Together, we restore trust and lead the way for real and sustainable change.
If we are to be a successful Republic, Representation must evolve to accountable representation, not decades of old model of electing good talkers and promise makers, only to find out they have turned their back on the district and now follow special interest, financer buy a puppet so that they can stay in power for many many years and delivering little in return for our support. I will use secure digital platforms to give every voter real-time access to bills, votes, and progress. And for 10 to 15 minutes every week vote yes or no, I will follow No more closed doors—every decision will be transparent and accountable. Technology empowers us to make democracy participatory again, ensuring your voice is heard and acted upon in Congress.
As a pragmatic progressive, I solve challenges with the heart of an engineer—not as an old-school politician. Passion without pragmatism leads to paralysis: Medicare for All, voting rights, climate action, and student debt relief have stalled in Congress. Real progress demands strategy, coalition-building, and results—not slogans. My action plan delivers incremental victories and messaging that resonates with everyday Americans. See our Districts legislative agenda in these five (5) Acts. https://www.felixforcongress.org/your-legislative-agenda-1

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

In the first 85 days walking the district and meeting over 4,000 people—while personally collecting every signature to get on the ballot—I became deeply attuned to our community’s priorities. Of the five Acts in our legislative agenda, residents asked me to focus on democracy (Democracy Forward Act) and the economy and jobs (Economic Engine and Jobs Act). But we’re also passionate about immigration reform, health and human rights, and pragmatic, community-driven solutions (The Village Act). These five Acts reflect 80% of the 30–40 topics we discussed. It was truly a pleasure getting to know the district and its soulful desire for congressional action—not more rhetoric.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

While I met with Black coalition groups, union leadership, Latino organizations, and Democratic Party leaders, I did not actively seek their endorsements. Instead, I offered to represent their agendas through the voting members of their groups—never placing any single interest above that of our district. I’ve taken an oath to represent all constituents directly, bill by bill. My alignment with any group’s agenda is only because it reflects the will of our voters. Discussions with groups whose priorities did not align with the district were brief.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Felix Tello campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Illinois District 7	Lost primary	$8,410	$1,898
Grand total			$8,410	$1,898
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Election Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 7

Website

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Footnotes

[show]

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)

Felix Tello

Contents

Elections

2026

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 7

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2027 Elections

Election analysis

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Public Policy

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