Eric Sorensen

Biography & Campaign Analysis

Background

Eric Sorensen was born on March 18, 1976, in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from Boylan Catholic High School and then studied communications and meteorology at Northern Illinois University. He lives with his partner in Moline.

Career

Sorensen built his career in television weather forecasting. He began as a meteorologist at KTRE, the ABC affiliate in Lufkin, Texas, from 1999 to 2000, then became the morning meteorologist for East Texas News Daybreak in Tyler, Texas. He was chief meteorologist at WREX, Rockford's NBC affiliate, from 2003 to 2014, and later senior meteorologist at WQAD, the ABC affiliate in Moline. After retiring from television in 2021, he took a communications job with UnityPoint Health.

With the 17th district seat opening after Cheri Bustos decided against seeking re-election, Sorensen declared his candidacy on November 10, 2021, and defeated Republican nominee Esther Joy King in the November 8, 2022, general election.

He became the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois and was sworn in on January 7, 2023. In 2024 he won re-election with 54.4% of the vote against Republican Joseph McGraw.

In the 119th Congress he serves on the Agriculture and Armed Services committees, co-chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus and belongs to the New Democrat Coalition.

2026 race

Eric Sorensen is seeking re-election in Illinois's 17th district, which runs across north-central Illinois from Rockford to the Quad Cities metropolitan area and Bloomington and also takes in Peoria. He was elected with 54.4% of the vote in 2024 and is the Democratic nominee in 2026. His Republican opponent is Dillan Vancil, who won the Republican primary with 58.4% of the vote against Julie Bickelhaupt. The general election takes place on November 3, 2026.