Biography:

Melissa Bean was born in Chicago and resides in Barrington, Ill. She graduated from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, and received an associate's degree in business from Oakton Community College and a bachelor's degree in political science from Roosevelt University.

Bean has worked for 20 years in the high-tech industry. She is president of Sales Resources Inc., a consulting firm serving high-tech clients internationally. Before founding the company in 1995, Bean worked in management positions at technology companies that include Arrow Electronics, Motorola, SynOptics (now Nortel) and Dataflex.

She ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Philip Crane, R-Wauconda, in 2002.

Bean has been married for 19 years to her husband, Alan. They have two daughters.

Past Campaigns:

Bean ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Philip Crane, R-Wauconda, in 2002. He defeated Bean with 57 percent of the vote.

"I'm back this time to finish the job that we started then, which is really about providing better representation to the families in the 8th District," Bean said.

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