Incumbent Democratic Representative Bobby Rush faced a primary challenge from Illinois Senator and future President Barack Obama.

[2] A strongly Democratic district, only twice since 1966 has a Republican candidate for United States Congress received over 20% of the vote.

[1] After coordinating a medical clinic that treated sickle cell anemia, Rush served as an alderman and was first elected to represent Illinois's 1st district in 1992.

Rush ran for Mayor of Chicago against Richard M. Daley in 1999 and lost, receiving only 28% of the vote, making him appear electorally vulnerable.

[1] Also challenging Rush were Donne Trotter, a state senator, and George Roby, a police officer.

[4] Raymond Wardingley, a perennial candidate who worked as a clown, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

He promised to build consensus and lead coalitions involving people outside of the black community to reduce crime, improve health care coverage, promote economic development and expand educational opportunities.

[6] As Obama lived in Hyde Park, a more affluent neighborhood with a higher percentage of White voters than the rest of the district, the narrative of the race became "the Black Panther against the professor.

[1][9] However, he neither connected with the working-class African Americans of the district nor provided a convincing reason for them to vote against Rush.

Each morning from that point forward I awoke with a vague sense of dread, realizing that I would have to spend the day smiling and shaking hands and pretending that everything was going according to plan.

[15] After being elected to the United States Senate that year, and amid much speculation in the media regarding his future plans, Obama announced that he would seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in February 2007[16][17] and went on to defeat fellow senator Hillary Clinton in one of the closest presidential nomination races in American history.