Democrat Wins Ill. Special Election to Fill Former House Speaker Hastert’s Seat
Dem. wins election to fill Hastert seat
Democrat Wins Ill. Special Election to Fill Former House Speaker Hastert’s Seat
DEANNA BELLANDI
AP News
Mar 08, 2008 23:51 EST
A longtime Republican district fell to the Democrats Saturday when a wealthy businessman and scientist snatched former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s congressional seat in a closely watched special election.
Democrat Bill Foster won 53 percent of the vote compared to 47 percent for Republican Jim Oberweis. With all 568 precincts reporting, Foster had 52,010 votes to Oberweis’ 46,988.
“Tonight our voices are echoing across the country and Washington will hear us loud and clear, it’s time for a change,” Foster told cheering supporters Saturday evening.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen said Foster’s win is a rebuke of the Bush administration and of the GOP’s apparent presidential nominee, John McCain, who helped raise money for Oberweis.
“This is going to send a political shock wave across the country in this election year,” Van Hollen said.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who made a TV ad praising Foster, said in a statement that voters “sent an unmistakable message that they’re tired of business-as-usual in Washington.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee downplayed the significance of the loss and said the back and forth between Democrats for the presidential nomination shows that one election doesn’t indicate a trend.
“The one message coming out of 2008 so far is that what happens today is not a bellwether of what happens this fall,” NRCC communications director Karen Hanretty said in a statement.
Foster’s special election win means he will fill the remainder of Hastert’s term, which ends in January.
The two will square off again in November, for a new, full term. Foster won a close Democratic primary by less than 400 votes for that race, although one challenger has initiated a re-count.
Hastert, 66, lost his powerful post as speaker when Democrats took control of Congress. He resigned late last year.
With Foster headed to Washington, the district will have a rookie congressmen after years of enjoying Hastert’s clout.
Hastert, who was the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, didn’t finish his 11th term. During his two decades in Washington, he funneled millions of dollars to the district that stretches from Chicago’s far western suburbs to almost the Mississippi River.
During the campaign, Foster and Oberweis poked at each other with negative TV ads and clashed on issues from immigration and health care to the Iraq war.
Both men turned to high-profile supporters to help sway voters. Obama for Foster; Oberweis had Hastert’s backing.
“I’m really disappointed that we came up second but that’s where we’re at,” said Oberweis, whose name is synonymous with his family’s dairy business and his financial management company.
This is the latest election disappointment for Oberweis, who has lost primary races twice before for the U.S. Senate and once for Illinois governor.
Foster, 52, worked for 22 years at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He got his start in business when as a young man he and his younger brother started a company that manufactures theater lighting equipment.
Hastert’s is one of three open seats in Illinois this year because of GOP retirements.
Reps. Jerry Weller, who represents a district from the suburban sprawl south of Chicago to the farmland of central Illinois, and Ray LaHood of Peoria are also stepping down. Democrats’ chances to pick up one of those seats improved when the Republican nominee to replace Weller dropped out of the race.
In southeast Louisiana, voters cast ballots in two congressional districts Saturday to find replacements for longtime Republican congressman Richard Baker and newly elected Republican governor Bobby Jindal.
In Jindal’s old district, state Sen. Steve Scalise had about 48 percent of the vote in the pivotal GOP race. For the Democrats, Gilda Reed, a University of New Orleans adjunct professor, captured 70 percent of the vote.
The GOP race winner will be the strong favorite to win Jindal’s district because it leans strongly conservative.
In Baker’s old district, state Rep. Don Cazayoux had about 40 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary with 359 of 512 precincts counted. He appeared headed for a runoff with state Rep. Michael Jackson, who had 25 percent of the vote. On the GOP side, former state House member Woody Jenkins led with about 51 percent.
This was the first time since the 1970s that Louisiana saw closed party primaries in federal elections.
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