Cheri Bustos Won Trump Country, One Grocery Aisle at a Time

Unmoderated with Sarah McCammon · Oct 15, 2026 · 31m

Cheri Bustos spent almost two decades as a newspaper reporter before entering public life. She served on her city council and then, in 2012, flipped a Republican seat in a working-class stretch of northwest Illinois.

Even when Donald Trump won her district in 2016, Bustos held on to that seat and won by more than 20 points. Her colleagues later chose her to lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2020 cycle, where she fought back Republican attacks and protected the Democratic House majority. Since leaving Congress, Bustos has spent her time thinking hard about how…