Illinois’ 2nd District consists of southern suburbs of Chicago in Cook, Will, and Kankakee counties. The district is 94.7% urban, and is majority African American (55.5%), followed by White (36.7%) and Hispanic (13.3%). The median household income is $45,572, and 21.2% of adults have graduated from college.

The Democratic candidate and incumbent is Robin Kelly, who has represented the district since 2013, and has never received less than 70% of the vote. The Republican candidate is David Merkle, a former member of the Kankakee County board. The district votes reliably Democratic, and has given 80% of the vote or higher to the Democratic presidential candidate in every election for the past 30 years.