John Porter's former Chief of Staff, Mark Kirk, won the Republican primary over number two rival Shaun Donnely.

The 10th is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including, but not limited to: CDW, Walgreens, Underwriters Laboratories, Caterpillar, Inc., Baxter Healthcare, AbbVie, Allstate Insurance, and Mondelez International.

The Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago, hosting the United States Navy's only boot camp, trains 38,000 recruits each year.

They are partitioned by Buffalo Grove Golf Course, Buffalo Grove Rd, Arboretum Golf Club, W Half Day Rd, Promontory Ridge Trail, Port Clinton Rd, Mundelein Rd, Highland Pines Park, Diamond Lake Rd, Breckinridge Dr, N Midlothian Rd, Illinois Route 60, W Hawley St, N Chevy Chase Rd, Steeple Chase Golf Club, W Lakeview Parkway, N Gilmer Rd, Hawley St, W Ivanhoe Rd, N Fairfield Rd, W Chardon Rd, N Wilson Rd, W Townline Rd, N US Highway 12, W Brandenburg Rd, and Volo Bog State Natural Area.

The 10th district takes in the communities of Spring Grove, Richmond, Hebron, Wonder Lake, Johnsburg, Fox Lake (shared with McHenry County), Pistakee Highlands, Ringwood, Greenwood, and Solon Mills; northwest McHenry; part of Lakemoor Republican candidate for Governor, Judy Baar Topinka, and GOP candidate for Cook County Board President Tony Peraica both handily won the district in 2006, although both lost in the state- and countywide (respectively) count.

Dan Seals, who had previously run against Mark Kirk in 2006, defeated Clinton Advisor Jay Footlik for the 2008 Democratic nomination.

Dave Kalbfleisch received the Green Party nomination, but was removed from the ballot by the Illinois State Board of Elections.

[19] Democrat Brad Schneider defeated Republican Robert Dold by nearly 5% (14,000 votes), the largest victory margin in Illinois's 10th Congressional district since redistricting.

[29] In the general election, which was held on November 3, 2020, Schneider defeated Republican challenger Valerie Ramirez Mukherjee, earning nearly two-thirds of the vote.