Foster Beats Oberweis in IL-14

Bill Foster has beaten Jim Oberweis for Denny Hastert’s old seat in the Illinois 14th District:

CHICAGO — Stunning many who considered the district west of Chicago reliably Republican territory, Bill Foster, a physicist and Democrat, won a special election on Saturday to fill the Congressional seat that J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House, held for two decades.

Mr. Foster’s success deeply disappointed Republicans, in part for its broader implications: the victory in this early race may buoy Democrats as they look ahead to a string of Republican retirements this fall.

Mr. Hastert was one of the best-known Republican members of Congress and he was elected from what was once a Republican stronghold.

Mr. Foster defeated James D. Oberweis, a dairy company owner, in a contest for the 14th Congressional district, a long swath that runs from the far western suburbs of Chicago nearly to the state’s Iowa border. He will fill the remaining months of Mr. Hastert’s term.

Mr. Foster won with 53 percent of the vote, while Mr. Oberweis had 47 percent, The Associated Press reported.

While this is a triumph that Democrats will certainly and reasonably be trumpeting, I think we should be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from the results of this special election. Politics continues to be local and candidates matter.

The demographics of the Illinois 14th District have been changing in recent years, becoming increasingly Hispanic for one thing. Bill Foster seems like a smart, sensible guy and Jim Oberweis, well, doesn’t. He seems like an abrasive son-of-a-gun with some frankly looney positions. The Illinois Republican Party continues on its mad downward spiral, running poor candidates.

I look forward to Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House’s comments on this outcome since the IL-14 is in his general area.

Meanwhile, congratulations to the victor, here’s to hoping we don’t have Jim Oberweis to kick around any more, and the Democrats’ House majority has just grown by one.

3 comments… add one
  • Hi Dave,

    This was a weird election – as it was Saturday, many of the normal polling stations were closed so voters had to take the time to find the location of the alternates.

    “The demographics of the Illinois 14th District have been changing in recent years, becoming increasingly Hispanic for one thing.”

    True but illegal aliens can’t vote and not a small portion of this increase in places like Elgin in the last 5 years are from illegals and mixed illegal-U.S. citizen families.

    “Bill Foster seems like a smart, sensible guy and Jim Oberweis, well, doesn’t. He seems like an abrasive son-of-a-gun with some frankly looney positions.”

    Agreed on both counts. Foster comes across as a technocratic moderate and did nothing to overtly antagonize the considerable population of conservative, evangelical, voters in the district’s rural trending upwardly mobile suburban counties.

    Oberweis, while I confess to enjoying his fine ice cream, came across as a very angry, authoritarian, man when he ran in the GOP primary for Senate a few years ago. That image has never been erased and he did nothing to improve it this time around either.

    ” The Illinois Republican Party continues on its mad downward spiral, running poor candidates”

    The George Ryan crowd running the state GOP prefers to be in control and lose elections than to lose control but win elections.

    I too look forward to Rick’s take.

  • Here is a surprise. Who does not know how corrupt the government is, please don’t all speak at once. Seriously, this guy is so bold but he must have some very powerful people behind him or is in the thick of it with him. My question is who threw him under the bus?

    So much for the rising star in Illinois.

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