10th Congressional District: Schneider Faces Mukherjee

DEERFIELD, IL — It's a battle of the North Shore, with Democratic incumbent Brad Schneider, who resides in Deerfield, versus Republican challenger Valerie Ramirez Mukherjee, who lives in Northbrook, squaring off for Illinois' 10th Congressional District. Schneider ran against two write-in candidates during the March primary, while Mukherjee ran unopposed.

The Illinois' 10th Congressional District covers parts of Cook and Lake counties. All or parts of Beach Park, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Fox Lake, Glencoe, Grayslake, Highland Park, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, Libertyville, Morton Grove, Mundelein, North Chicago, Northbrook, Prospect Heights, Round Lake, Round Lake Beach, Vernon Hills, Waukegan, Wheeling and Zion are included.

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Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield)

Schneider, 59, has served as the U.S. Representative for the Illinois' 10th Congressional District since 2017. He also previously held the seat from 2013-2015.

Schneider is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Small Business, according to his house.gov biography. He has previously served on the House Foreign Affairs and House Judiciary committees.

According to his bio, "Schneider is committed to tackling the challenges we face as a nation, including protecting Medicare and Social Security for future generations, reforming our broken immigration system, passing sensible gun safety legislation, and critically, urgently taking action to reduce the rate and address the impacts of global climate change."

Prior to being elected to Congress, Schneider spent more than 20 years in business and management consulting. His professional experience has allowed him to see first-hand the challenges small businesses face when trying to hire new workers and grow their company, as well as the effect thriving small businesses can have on a community’s overall well-being, according to his bio.

Schneider and his wife, Julie, have been residents of Deerfield for more than 30 years. They are the parents of two sons.

Deerfield Voter Guide 2020

Valerie Ramirez Mukherjee (R-Northbrook)

According to her candidate page on her website, Mukherjee spent more than 15 years in finance, technology and politics, working at leading firms, such as UBS, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bloomberg, IBM, and Silicon Valley startups.

She started volunteering for GOP Congressman Bill Baker (CA-10) while she was at Berkeley. Upon graduation, she joined his campaign as his Campaign Manager and Congressional Aide and was one of the youngest women in the country in these roles. During her tenure, she worked on the signature legislation to fund and extend Bay Area Rapid Transit to San Francisco airport.

According to her website, "Val’s priority is to foster the conditions that help reverse the ongoing exodus of people and businesses from the district and state. District 10 has terrific advantages, including geography, proximity to the third-largest US city, multi-modal infrastructure, two top 10 universities, excellent schools, and an affordable cost of living. The region should be a global commercial and residential magnet. Yet, the exodus continues due to fiscal mismanagement, rising taxes, and an unfriendly business climate. To fix this predicament, Val wants to focus on three critical initiatives — diversify and attract new economy jobs, improve educational outcomes, and reduce the tax burden (JET). If executed well, these initiatives can quickly reverse the exodus, and people and companies will 'JET IN.' However, if these conditions do not change, they will continue to 'JET OUT' of District 10, to more favorable resident and business-friendly geographies."

Mukherjee and her husband, Brian, reside in Northbrook with their two school-aged children.

Northbrook Voter Guide

Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.