Sean Casten | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's6th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Roskam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sean Thomas Casten (1971-11-23)November 23, 1971 (age 54) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 (1 deceased) |
| Relatives | Tom Casten (father) |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Sean Thomas Casten (born November 23, 1971) is an American businessman and politician serving as theU.S. representative forIllinois's 6th congressional district. The district covers southwesternChicago, as wellas many of Chicago's inner southwestern suburbs, such asDowners Grove,Wheaton,Lisle,Orland Park, andWestern Springs. He is a member of theDemocratic Party.
Due to redistricting as a result of the2020 United States census, Casten and fellow DemocratMarie Newman competed to represent the same district in the 2022 Democratic primary election. Casten defeated Newman in the primary election on June 28, 2022. He won the general election, defeating the Republican nominee,Orland Park mayor Keith Pekau, on November 8, 2022.[1]
Born inDublin,Ireland, to American parents, Judy andTom Casten,[2][3] and raised inHartsdale, New York, Casten earned aBachelor of Arts in molecular biology and biochemistry fromMiddlebury College in 1993. He then worked for two years as a scientist at theTufts University School of Medicine. In 1998, he earned aMaster of Engineering Management and aMaster of Science in biochemical engineering from theThayer School of Engineering atDartmouth College.[4]
Casten began his career working at consultancyArthur D. Little, where he did fuel chain analyses for the company's chemical engineering group.[5] From 2000 to 2007, he served as the president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation, which converted emissions from power plants into energy.[3]
In 2007, Casten and his father,Tom Casten, foundedRecycled Energy Development (RED). RED focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, more economic uses.[6][7][8] RED attempted to make profitable use of waste heat capturing technology, an avenue of electricity generation that attracted interest from a number of startup companies looking to find a "breakthrough" in the technology.[9][10] In 2015, an investor in RED sued the company, alleging mismanagement by Casten. Casten settled the lawsuit and sold the company in 2016; he said the allegations against him were untrue and were part of a hostile takeover attempt.[3][11]
Casten was a founding chairman of the Northeast CHP Initiative.[12] He participated in crafting the bill that became theRegional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program in the northeast United States that attempts to use market forces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[13]
Casten announced his candidacy for theUnited States House of Representatives inIllinois's 6th congressional district in September 2017.[4] He defeated six other contenders in the 2018 Democratic primary to become the party's nominee against six-term incumbent RepublicanPeter Roskam.[14]
On November 6, 2018, Casten won the election, defeating Roskam by a margin of seven points.[15]
This race was viewed as one that Democrats needed to win in order to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since the2010 elections.[16]Illinois's 6th congressional district supported Democratic presidential nomineeHillary Clinton by about 7 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.[17] This was one of 25 GOP-held seats in the U.S. Representatives that Clinton carried in 2016;[18] Democrats flipped 22 of them in 2018.[19][20]
Casten was reelected in 2020, defeating former state legislator and gubernatorial primary candidateJeanne Ives by seven points.[21]
For his first two terms, Casten represented a district covering parts of five counties in Chicago's western suburbs, includingWheaton,Palatine, andBarrington.
Redistricting after the 2020 census saw the 6th become significantly more compact. Casten lost all of his territory outsideCook andDuPage counties. To make up for the loss in population, the district was pushed further into Cook County, absorbing a slice of southwestern Chicago proper. As a result, it lost its connection to longtime Republican CongressmanHenry Hyde, who held the seat from 1975 to 2007.
The reconfigured district included a large chunk of the old3rd district, represented by fellow DemocratMarie Newman. Although the reconfigured district retained Casten's district number, it was geographically more Newman's district than Casten's. According to calculations byDaily Kos, the new district was over 77% new to him; Newman retained 41% of her constituents while Casten retained 23% of his former territory.[22] Nevertheless, Casten won the nomination. In the general election, he defeatedOrland Park Mayor Keith Pekau by 8 points.
As of January 2023[update], Casten had voted in line with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 99% of the time during the 117th Congress.[23]
Casten says his number one issue in Congress is energy policy and climate change.[24][25][26] He is a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.[27] Of working with Congress on clean energy policy, Casten has said, "[T]he folks who really understand the energy system tend to be Republicans, and the folks who really understand environmental science tend to be Democrats. And there's a gap in talking to each other".[26] "We have a PhD-level problem. And Congress is at a 6th-grade reading level", he has said.[25]
Casten has introduced several bills related to energy policy, among them the Climate Risk Disclosure Act and the End Oil and Gas Subsidies Act.[28][29] The Clean Industrial Technology Act of 2019 would have established a program to incentivize innovation in greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing.[30]
Casten has worked to increase the visibility of theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a federal agency with regulatory powers in the energy sector. In Congress, Casten has led efforts to "turbocharge FERC's profile" and to utilize the agency to promote the cleanenergy transition.[31]
In 2021, Casten debuted a "Hot FERC Summer" campaign, a play on the phrase "hot girl summer" that rose to viral popularity in 2019.[32] In 2022, Casten reworded the lyrics toRihanna's 2016 singleWork on the House floor to advocate for giving increased resources to FERC to allow it to "work".[33]
Casten is a sponsor of theCommission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The bill would allow history books to go into more depth on African American struggles and set up a reparations commission for those with enslaved ancestors.[34][35]
Casten voted forAyanna Pressley's amendment to H.R. 1, the Voting Rights Act, which would lower the voting age to 16.[36]
Casten is an outspoken supporter of abortion rights.[37][38] Following theDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, Casten voted for H.R.8296, theWomen's Health Protection Act of 2022,[39] which would protect a person's ability to end a pregnancy and a healthcare provider's ability to provide abortion services.[37]
In 2023, Casten voted against H.Con.Res. 21 which directed PresidentJoe Biden to remove U.S. troops fromSyria within 180 days.[40][41]
In the 118th Congress Casten co-sponsored three bills to restructure Congress and the judicial branches of the U.S. government to make them more representative:[42]
Casten voted for a resolution in support of Israel following the2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[46][47]
In March 2024, Casten criticized Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu for the "utter disregard for Palestinian lives".[48]
On July 19, 2024, Casten called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the2024 United States presidential election.[49]
For the119th Congress:[50]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten | 19,774 | 29.51 | |
| Democratic | Kelly Mazeski | 17,984 | 26.84 | |
| Democratic | Carole Cheney | 11,663 | 17.40 | |
| Democratic | Amanda Howland | 8,483 | 12.66 | |
| Democratic | Becky Anderson Wilkins | 4,001 | 5.97 | |
| Democratic | Jennifer Zordani | 2,743 | 4.09 | |
| Democratic | Ryan Huffman | 2,365 | 3.53 | |
| Total votes | 67,013 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten | 169,001 | 53.58 | |
| Republican | Peter J. Roskam (incumbent) | 146,445 | 46.42 | |
| Total votes | 315,446 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten (incumbent) | 82,909 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 82,909 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten (incumbent) | 213,777 | 52.82 | |
| Republican | Jeanne Ives | 183,891 | 45.43 | |
| Libertarian | Bill Redpath | 7,079 | 1.75 | |
| Total votes | 404,747 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten (incumbent) | 45,654 | 67.7 | |
| Democratic | Marie Newman (incumbent) | 19,726 | 29.2 | |
| Democratic | Charles M. Hughes | 2,085 | 3.1 | |
| Total votes | 67,465 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten (incumbent) | 150,496 | 54.4 | |
| Republican | Keith Pekau | 126,351 | 45.6 | |
| Write-in | 12 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 276,859 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sean Casten (incumbent) | 196,647 | 54.2 | |
| Republican | Niki Conforti | 166,116 | 45.8 | |
| Write-in | 86 | 0.0 | ||
| Total votes | 362,849 | 100.0 | ||
Casten and his wife, Kara, live inDowners Grove, Illinois.[66]
On June 13, 2022, Casten's daughter Gwen died suddenly at the age of 17 fromcardiac arrest.[67][68] According to Casten, his daughter had been in good health.[68]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois's 6th congressional district 2019–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 194th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
