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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.
Bean grew up in a Serbian-American family at the Chicago suburbs, where her adopted father was a machine belt factory owner 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.
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. It 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. 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.
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.
Bean was challenged by Republican nominee Joe Walsh and Green Party nominee Bill Scheurer, an anti-Iraq war candidate. Although Bean was heavily favored, she lost to Walsh by 291 votes. Bean was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Herald, and the Lake County News-Sun.
In 2011, Bean became President and CEO of the Executives Club of Chicago. After serving as chair of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase, she became CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors, part of Mesirow Financial, in 2019.
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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.
Bean grew up in a Serbian-American family at the Chicago suburbs, where her adopted father was a machine belt factory owner 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.
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. It 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. 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.
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.
Bean was challenged by Republican nominee Joe Walsh and Green Party nominee Bill Scheurer, an anti-Iraq war candidate. Although Bean was heavily favored, she lost to Walsh by 291 votes. Bean was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Herald, and the Lake County News-Sun.
In 2011, Bean became President and CEO of the Executives Club of Chicago. After serving as chair of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase, she became CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors, part of Mesirow Financial, in 2019.