Christine Cegelis is the acting Assistant Director of Central Management Services for the State of Illinois and was the 2004 Democratic candidate for the 6th Congressional district of Illinois. She ran in the Democratic primary for the same seat in 2006 and lost to former Army Major Tammy Duckworth. Many Democrats, including Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Rahm Emanuel supported Duckworth over Cegelis in the 2006 primary by sending fundraising letters on Duckworth's behalf during the primary. [1]
In 2004, Cegelis received 44.2% of the vote against U.S. Representative Henry Hyde, a sixteen-term incumbent. This was more than any challenger had received since Hyde's first run for Congress in 1974. In 2005, Hyde announced that he would retire at the end of his next term. Cegelis' strong showing is seen as largely due to the increasingly diverse demographics of DuPage County.