Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Arlington Heights pastor Jon Elleson face off in bid for Illinois' 9th Congressional District

Four Illinois members of the U.S. House of Representatives are not running for re-election in November, including longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has held the 9th District seat in Congress for 27 years.

As she prepares to retire, voters electing her successor in the district will be choosing between Democratic candidate Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, and Republican candidate John Elleson, a pastor in Arlington Heights. 

Illinois' 9th District stretches from the Far North Side of Chicago up the North Shore and sharply west to  Crystal Lake and Algonquin.

For Biss, who beat 14 other candidates the Democratic primary, the race is about immigration, affordability, and protecting democracy.

For Elleson, who defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary, it's about curbing violence, immigration, and stopping democratic socialism.

Asked if the Trump administration's immigration crackdown dubbed Operation Midway Blitz was a success, Elleson said the government "maybe did a little bit wrong," but he argued "they were there to do a job."

"We have illegals in our church every Sunday, and they'll never come in, we'll never allow police or to come in our church, but government's different, and government has a job to do, and their job is to enforce laws," he said.

Biss has been an outspoken critic of Operation Midway Blitz, and took part in protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview.

"Illinois 9 is a district of immigrants and refugees, has been for a very long time, people from literally all over the world," Biss said. "Donald Trump and the Republicans are weaponizing ICE and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] to attack our communities, abduct our neighbors, terrorize people. And so [voters] want someone who's going to go, not only fight for comprehensive immigration reform, but fight back against these grotesque and outrageous and illegal violent excesses."

CBS News Chicago asked Biss if there will be an attempt to impeach President Trump if Democrats take control of the House after the midterm elections, and if he would support it.

Biss said Trump "obviously" has committed impeachable offenses, but stopped short of explicitly calling for an impeachment.

"How are we going to make sure that we're asking those questions in a responsible and appropriate way, and working through that in a way that leaves space for all the other things that need to be done? That's going to be a process that we work through," he said.

Elleson said impeaching President Trump again, as the House did twice during his first term, could backfire for Democrats.

"I think that the Democrats have learned their lesson a little bit, because I don't think it would be wise," he said. "They're going to say it to their base, but at the end of the day, that's all that's going to do is wake up the sleeping giant again."

Elleson also denounced Biss for his criticism of the Israeli government. Biss, whose mother is Israeli and whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, has been vocal in his opposition to Israel's handling of the war in Gaza and has supported the creation of a Palestinian state.

"See, I'm a I'm a big Israel supporter. Daniel's Jewish, I told Daniel, I said, 'Come on, you're running away from your heritage. I don't like that.' I thought it was just a primary thing he was doing, and, you know, throwing his people under the bus. I know that's strong, but I think that, listen, Israel is in a in a place in the area, it's a dangerous world there," Elleson said. "We got to support Israel. Come on. We got to support Israel."

Biss has voiced support for restricting arms sales to Israel.

"The U.S. has traditionally treated Israel kind of unlike any other country, right? Israel is a wealthy, developed economy that gets the type of military aid that no other country like it gets. That should be phased out," he said. "I think the critical thing here is that we have to use the power of the U.S. government through diplomacy, and through financial leverage, to effectuate a change in policy on the part of the Israeli government. That's morally necessary."