Sources: Convicted Former Trump Aide to Seek Congressional Seat in Suburbs
Former Trump campaign official George Papadopoulos.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
George Papadopoulos, a former Donald Trump campaign aide who spent time in federal prison for making false statements to the FBI about his contact with the Russian government while working for the Trump campaign, will run for Congress in Illinois in 2026, multiple sources tell The Illinoize.
Papadopoulos, who was born in Chicago and raised in suburban Lincolnshire, will seek the Republican nomination in the 8th Congressional district seeking to replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Hoffman Estates), who is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate.
In his plea deal with the Mueller investigative team, Papadopoulos served a two-week sentence in federal prison, which he served in 2018. Trump pardoned him in 2020.
He had served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump’s first campaign and lied to the FBI about the timing and extent of his contact with a professor who promised to connect him to high-ranking Russian officials. This made him an object of cable-news fascination and appeared to be a link between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
A Chicago Sun-Times story in 2018 said Papadopoulos lived on the north side of Chicago. Voter registration records show Papadopoulos hasn’t voted in Illinois since 2012.
Papadopoulos ran for Congress in California, finishing 9th out of 12 candidates in the state’s jungle primary.
Papadopoulos was spotted eating breakfast Wednesday at a restaurant at suburban Palatine with Cook County GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar and other local GOP officials.
We’re told his announcement in the race is expected “soon,” but no timeline was given. Papadopoulos was not taking calls from media Wednesday.
After his guilty plea, Trump threw Papadopoulos under the bus as “already proven to be a liar.”
The Cook Political Report rates the 8th District as a “D+5” district, making Republicans hopeful the right candidate can make the district competitive.
The snaking district includes a part of the far west side of Chicago, Rosemont, Schaumburg, Carol Stream, Rolling Meadows, Elgin, as well as East and West Dundee.
