NEW YORK (JTA) — Businessman Brad Schneider has emerged as the victor in a hotly contested Democratic congressional primary in Illinois.
Schneider took 47 percent of the vote to 39 percent for activist Ilya Sheyman in the congressional district in Chicago’s northern suburbs. The two Jewish candidates were vying to take on first-term Republican incumbent Rep. Robert Dold in the general election in November.
Schneider, 50, has a history of leadership in Jewish and pro-Israel groups. The 25-year-old Sheyman, who came to America as a child refugee from the former Soviet Union, had the strong support of prominent figures and groups on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
The campaign had become acrimonious, with Sheyman supporters attacking Schneider over his past donations to Republican politicians. Schneider countered that the donations were a small fraction of his overall political giving, which was focused on furthering the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Two other candidates in the primary, John Tree and Vivek Bavda, received 9 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively.
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