Melissa Bean

Melissa Bean (née Luburich; born January 22, 1962) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 8th congressional district from 2005 to 2011. Bean is a member of the Democratic Party.

She is the nominee to regain her old seat in the 2026 U.S. House election.^[1]

Bean grew up in a Serbian-American family at the Chicago suburbs, where her adopted father was a machine belt factory owner^[2][3] She attended Maine East High School before graduating from Oakton Community College with an associate degree in 1982 and from Roosevelt University in 2000 with a bachelor's degree. Prior to her election to Congress, she was president of a home-based business, Sales Resources Inc.^[4]

In 2002, Bean was defeated by 73-year-old 8th District Republican incumbent Phil Crane, who had held the seat for 33 years. However, Bean managed 43 percent of the vote, surprising observers from both parties. Indeed, the national party offered almost no financial support to her campaign.^[5] It was was only the second time that Crane had been held below 60 percent of the vote. The 8th had long been reckoned as the most conservative district in the Chicago area, if not in all of Illinois.

Bean rematched against Crane in 2004. This time, Bean raised almost as much money as Crane, mainly from small donors. In contrast, Crane received most of his donations from political action committees. Despite Republican efforts to help Crane, Bean defeated him with 52 percent of the vote, a margin of roughly four percentage points. This came even as George W. Bush carried the district in the 2004 election by 12 percentage points.^[6] When Bean took office on January 3, 2005, she became the first Democrat to represent the district and its predecessors since its formation in 1935.^[7]

Bean was a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition and the pro-business New Democrat Coalition. She served on the Small Business and Financial Services committees after being granted a waiver by Democratic leadership.^[2]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Finance and Tax
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade

Bean was challenged by Republican nominee Joe Walsh and Green Party nominee Bill Scheurer, an anti-Iraq war candidate.^[8][9] Although Bean was heavily favored, she lost to Walsh by 291 votes.^[10] Bean was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune,^[11] the Chicago Sun-Times,^[12] The Daily Herald,^[13] and the Lake County News-Sun.^[14]

In 2011, Bean became President and CEO of the Executives Club of Chicago.^[15][16] After serving as chair of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase,^[17] she became CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors, part of Mesirow Financial, in 2019.^[18]

In September 2025, Bean announced her intention to run for her old congressional seat after a 15-year absence. The incumbent, five-term fellow Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, was running for the U.S. Senate.^[1] On March 17, 2026, Bean won the Democratic nomination after defeating candidates such Junaid Ahmed- who was endorsed by prominent progressive lawmakers such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)- and Dan Tully.^[19][20]

In her first year in Congress in 2005, Bean was one of nine House Democrats to vote with Republicans to extend tax cuts on capital gains and dividends, a vote which House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called "immoral".^[21] She also departed from the Democrats in 2006 to vote to extend about $70 billion in the Bush tax cuts^[8] (she was one of just 15 Democrats to back the legislation). She also voted to repeal the estate tax^[22] and voted in favor of a presidential line-item veto — votes that earned her the moniker "Tax Hero" from the anti-tax group Citizens Against Government Waste.^[23] Bean voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Bean was one of only 15 Democrats to vote in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),^[24] a vote which lost her the endorsement of the AFL-CIO and other unions who viewed her vote as a betrayal, but gained her the support of — and awards from — the United States Chamber of Commerce.^[2][8] She co-sponsored the 2009 Employee Free Choice Act^[25], though it did not become law.

Bean supported the House Democratic cap-and-trade bill in 2009, which would have capped carbon emissions from major U.S. sources and provided economic incentives for industries that reduce their emissions.^[2]

Bean supported the Iraq war,^[8] but opposed President George W. Bush's troop "surge" in 2006.^[26]

Bean supports abortion rights and voted in support of the Affordable Care Act. Bean was one of four Democrats to vote against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, joining 155 of 159 Republicans in defeating the bill.^[27]

Bean lives in unincorporated Palatine Township with her husband and two girls. Their residence was in the 8th District when they moved there, but became part of the 10th District because of redistricting.^[33] Bean is Serbian Orthodox.^[34][35]

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Profile at SourceWatch
• Appearances on C-SPAN