The IL House primaries were held in conjunction with the state’s Presidential primary. It was a very busy night with 15 contests in the regular phase plus two more to find candidates to fill the balance of Denny Hastert’s term in 2008. Overall, it was a great night for the favorites.
Hastert’s IL-14 open seat saw the closest contest of the night. Millionaire scientist Bill Foster scraped by winning by 323 votes in the election for the nomination for the full-term over carpenter (and 2006 candidate) John Laesch. The final tally was Foster 31,910; Laesch 31,587; Joe Serra 5,947; and Jotham Stein 5,757. In the “special” election Foster had more breathing room prevailing by 3,000 votes with 31,792 to Laesch’s 28,053 and 4,949 for Jotham Stein. The hard fought Republican contest saw millionaire dairy owner Jim Oberweis finally win after losing three shots at statewide office. Oberweis took 56% in the special to Chris Lauzen’s 44% (overall about 8,000 more votes were cast in the Republican primary for the special). The general was not quite as close with Oberweis pulling in 56% (again), Lauzen at 41%, and Michael Dilger getting the balance.
The battle between Bush Dog Dan Lipinski and Mark Pera in IL-3 was not as close as predicted. Lipinski got a clear majority with 53% while beating his main opponent Pera by 2-1 (Pera had 26%). Jim Capparelli (12%) and Jerry Bennett (9%) rounded out the field. Even the Chicago Tribune called Lipinski a Democrat in name only in its coverage. Grr.
Elsewhere in the state, Bobby Rush wallopped William Walls in IL-1 taking 88% of the vote. Michael Hawkins won the Republican nod to face Lipinski in IL-3 with 67% of the vote. Democrats in the district cast 105,000 votes to 18,000 on the Republican side. “GI Jill” Morgenthaler won with an impressive 79% in IL-6 for the right to take on Peter Roskam in the fall. This has been regarded as a throw away unlike the race last cycle when its an empty seat. We’ll find out. Incumbents Danny Davis (91% in IL-70), Melissa Bean (83% in IL-8) and Jan Schakowsky (88% in IL-9) sailed to easy renomination on the Democratic side. Bean will face Steve Greenberg (57% in the GOP primary) in the fall.
Further results give easy renomination to Judy Biggert in IL-13 (77%). Timothy Balderman took the Republican nomination in the 11th CD with 67% in a three way race. In IL-18, 26 year old state senator and gaffe machine Aaron Schock cruised to an easy win with 71% of the Republican vote. Democrats will name his opponent as Dick Versace withdrew after qualifying. Daniel Davis won the Democratic nod in IL-19 with a solid 60-40 victory over Joe McMenamin. He’ll take on Shimkus in the fall.
Schock is an immatre 26. Maybe we have a chance there. If not he could become a perennial target or the next incarnation of Patrick McHenry.
Hopefully we do better in MD-4.
Wait a sec, are you saying there could be TWO guys named Danny Davis in the Illinois delegation?
The Chicago one has gone by Danny K. Davis and the downstate one is Daniel but you got it. Just like the two Bob Millers on the early Mets. Elect them both and watch for the nicknames to come: Downstate Danny, perhaps.
There’s been no decision about IL-14. There will be a recount.
Honestly, Foster ran the worst campaign I’ve ever witnessed. He ran TV ads, sent out mailers, participated in SOME of the debates, and that was it.
John Laesch on the other hand, demonstrated that even without the millions of dollars his opponents had, he had the ability to build and run an effective organization. If we had been able to keep the DC insiders out of our district (why do they keep doing that??!!), John would be campaigning for the November elections as we speak.
With Oberweiss’ wealth and the organization he inherited from Hastert, coupled with Foster’s incompetence, IF foster prevails in the primary, he’s going to get creamed in November.