Candidate · November 3, 2026
Melissa L. Bean
On the ballot for U.S. House · Illinois's 8th District
- raised through Oct 14, 2026
- $2.5M
- cash on hand
- $302K
- issues with public statements
- 26
- outside spending for or against
- $6.7M
§1On the ballot
Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.
| Office | U.S. House · Illinois's 8th District1 |
|---|---|
| Party on the ballot | Democratic1 |
| Status | Open seat — no incumbent is running for this seat. |
| Also on the ballot |
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§2Who they are
Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Her campaign website says Melissa Bean represented Illinois's 8th District in the U.S. House for three terms.2 It says she earned degrees from Oakton Community College and Roosevelt University.2 It says she has held leadership roles in business and built a career across the private, public and nonprofit sectors.2
Why they say they're running
Her campaign website says she is running to help restore the balance of powers among the branches of government and to be part of a majority that delivers results for working families.2 It also says she is running to be a check on the current administration and a fighter for working families, with a vision of restoring the American Dream and American values.2
Websites and accounts
- Campaign websitemelissabeanforcongress.com3,
4 - Facebookfacebook.com/melissabeanforillinois4
- Instagraminstagram.com/melissabeanforillinois4
- X (Twitter)x.com/Melissabeanil084
- Blueskybsky.app/profile/melissabeanil.bsky.social4
§3What they've said on the issues
Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.
Immigration
Her campaign website says she will support comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, and that she voted for the DREAM Act.5
- No new legal status, including for people brought here as children
- Legal status only for people brought here as children, such as DACA recipients
- Legal status, but not citizenship, for most who pass background checks and pay a fine
- A path to citizenship for most who meet requirements such as background checks
Her campaign website says she will oppose President Trump's mass deportation and family separation policies and demand accountability and constitutional due process in immigration enforcement.5
Her campaign website says greater oversight of ICE, including body cameras, is necessary and should be federally mandated.5
Her campaign website says local police should be able to order ICE or CBP to cease and desist, or arrest them, when they act outside their scope of authority.5
Health Care
Her campaign website says she will protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, including protections for pre-existing conditions, and that as a member of Congress she voted for it.5
Her campaign website says she will work to extend the tax credits that have lowered premiums for families in the 8th District.5
Her campaign website says she will reverse the Republican Medicaid cuts.5
- Reduce federal Medicaid spending further, such as by giving states fixed yearly amounts (block grants or per-person limits)
- Keep the funding rules set by the 2025 law
- Reverse the 2025 changes or increase federal funding
Social Security and Medicare
Her campaign website says she will continue to allow Medicare to negotiate directly to lower prescription drug prices.5
- Repeal or scale back negotiation
- Keep the program as it is
- Expand it to more drugs and to people with private insurance
Economy, Jobs and Trade
Her campaign website says she will protect the right to organize and collectively bargain and strengthen workplace safety and labor enforcement.5
Her campaign website says she will expand access to affordable capital for small businesses, reduce unnecessary red tape while maintaining strong consumer protections, and support local economic development and entrepreneurship.5
Her campaign website says she will support clear, pro-innovation regulatory frameworks for digital assets that provide certainty and protect consumers.5
Her campaign website says the founders gave Congress the power over taxation, tariffs and war, and that she is running to help restore the balance of powers.2
Education
Her campaign website says she will fight to restore the U.S. Department of Education and the funding it provides to community schools.5
- Close the department and move or end its programs
- Shrink it and give states more control over federal school money
- Keep the department and its programs, or expand it
Her campaign website says she will stand with teachers and public schools by opposing vouchers that drain schools of tax dollars.5
- Make them available to every family
- Offer them only to some students, such as those from low-income families or with disabilities
- No public money for private school or homeschooling costs
Environment and Public Lands
Her campaign website says she will protect clean air and water by curbing or removing super-pollutants and holding polluters accountable.5
Technology, Privacy and AI
Her campaign website says she will establish clear rules that protect rights and safety without hampering innovation.5
Her campaign website says she will hold tech companies accountable for harmful practices, strengthen protections for children's privacy and mental health online, close loopholes children use to bypass age restrictions, and support school efforts to ban phones during class time.5
Elections and Government Reform
Her campaign website says she will protect and expand voting rights, including early and mail-in voting.5
Her campaign website says she will require full disclosure of political spending to stop dark money, support small-donor and public financing reforms, and work to overturn the effects of Citizens United.5
- Limit spending by outside groups, including by amending the Constitution to overturn Citizens United
- Keep spending unlimited but require groups to name their major donors
- Keep current rules
- Raise or remove limits on donations to candidates and parties
Abortion and Reproductive Health
Her campaign website says she is committed to codifying the rights and protections afforded under Roe v. Wade and to opposing any federal abortion ban.5
- Legal only to save the pregnant woman's life
- Legal only in cases of rape or incest, or to save the woman's life
- Legal early in pregnancy only, up to a limit such as 6, 12 or 15 weeks
- Legal until about 24 weeks, as under Roe v. Wade, and later to protect the woman's life or health
- Legal at every stage, with no limit based on weeks of pregnancy
Her campaign website says she is committed to codifying the rights and protections afforded under Roe v. Wade and defending access to abortion, contraception and IVF nationwide.5
- A national law making abortion legal in every state, at least until viability, as under Roe v. Wade
- Leave abortion law to each state
- A national law limiting abortion (for example, after 15 weeks of pregnancy)
Her campaign website says that in Congress she consistently voted against what it calls Republican attempts to use the Hyde Amendment to deny reproductive choice for low-income women.5
Her campaign website says she is committed to defending access to abortion, contraception and IVF nationwide.5
Family and Social Policy
Her campaign website says she will fight efforts to reverse constitutional protections for marriage equality, and that she voted against the 2006 Federal Marriage Amendment.5
- Keep same-sex marriage legal in every state
- Let each state decide whether to allow it
- Recognize only marriages between one man and one woman
Courts, Rights and Civil Liberties
Her campaign website says she will protect civil rights by defending equal treatment in housing, employment, health care and public life for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.5
Foreign Policy and Defense
Her campaign website says the founders gave Congress the power over taxation, tariffs and war, and that she is running to help restore the balance of powers.2
§4Money
Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.
Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.6
| Raised | $2,457,207 |
|---|---|
| Spent | $2,155,494 |
| Cash on hand | $301,714 |
| Debts owed by the campaign | $391,125 |
Where the money came from
Outside spending
Groups spending independently reported $6,616,132 supporting and $108,946 opposing Melissa L. Bean this cycle, primary and general combined, in the 24- and 48-hour reports the law requires for larger expenditures, filed through October 25, 2026.7
| Group | Supporting | Opposing |
|---|---|---|
| ELECT CHICAGO WOMEN AKA ECW | $3,985,698 | — |
| THINK BIG | $1,138,422 | — |
| New Democrat Majority | $935,000 | — |
| Protect Progress | $557,012 | — |
| Justice Democrats PAC | — | $56,750 |
| LINCOLN LEGACY PAC | — | $50,000 |
| THE PEOPLE'S LOBBY | — | $2,196 |
Smaller expenditures that appear only on a group's regular monthly or quarterly report aren't in these totals, so the full amounts can be somewhat higher. When a group amends a report, only its latest version is counted.
§5Financial disclosures
Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.
- Candidate financial disclosure report8filed Aug 19, 2026
- Candidate financial disclosure report9filed Jan 8, 2026