Illinois House
Filing Deadline: Nov. 5, 2007 • Primary Date: Feb. 5, 2008 • General Election: Nov. 4, 2008District Profile: The 1st District includes about half of Chicago's black South Side community plus many suburbs. Full Profile
2006 results: Bobby Rush (D) defeated Jason Tabour (R) by 84-16%.
Incumbent
Bobby Rush (D)
Elected in 1992; Seeking ninth term; Rush was nominated with 88% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
Antoine Members (R)Members, a police officer, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The 2nd now has more people in the suburbs than in Chicago. These extensions reduced the black percentage, but it remains one of the most Democratic districts in the nation. Full Profile
2006 results: Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) defeated Robert Belin (R) by 85-12%.
Incumbent
Jesse Jackson Jr. (D)
Elected in Dec. 1995; Seeking seventh full term; Jackson was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Anthony Williams (R)Williams, a Lutheran Pastor, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Politically, this is marginal territory: ancestrally Democratic, culturally conservative, multiethnic and viscerally patriotic. Full Profile
2006 results: Daniel Lipinski (D) defeated Raymond Wardingley (R) by 77-23%.
Incumbent
Daniel Lipinski (D)
Elected in 2004; Seeking third term; Lipinski was nominated with 54% in a four-way primary.
Challenger
Michael Hawkins (R)Hawkins, a realtor, was nominated with 67% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: The 4th District is the Hispanic-majority district created in 1992 and altered somewhat by the 2001 redistricting. Full Profile
2006 results: Luis Gutierrez (D) defeated Ann Melichar (R) by 86-14%.
Incumbent
Luis Gutierrez (D)
Elected in 1992; Seeking ninth term; Gutierrez was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Omar López (Green)López, an immigrant rights activist, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: It was not apparent in early 2001 that the 5th would survive redistricting. But the 2000 Census results showed a big population increase in Chicago's immigrant neighborhoods. Full Profile
2006 results: Rahm Emanuel (D) defeated Kevin White (R) by 78-22%.
Incumbent
Rahm Emanuel (D)
Elected in 2002; seeking fourth term; Emanuel was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Alan Augustson (Green)Auguston, an economist, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Most of the district is in DuPage County, the second largest county in Illinois. Politically, it has become less overwhelmingly Republican. Full Profile
2006 results: Peter Roskam (R) defeated Tammy Duckworth (D) by 51-49%.
Incumbent
Peter Roskam (R)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Roskam was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Jill Morgenthaler (D)Morgenthaler, a former homeland security official, was nominated with 77% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: Its heart, demographically and spiritually, is the black ghetto of the West Side, more depopulated and socially disorganized than the South Side. Full Profile
2006 results: Danny Davis (D) defeated Charles Hutchinson (R) by 87-13%.
Incumbent
Danny Davis (D)
Elected in 1996; Seeking seventh term; Davis was nominated with 91% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
None
District Profile: Historically, this area was one of the most Republican places in the nation. In the past decade, like other suburban Chicago areas, it moved toward the Democrats. Full Profile
2006 results: Melissa Bean (D) defeated David McSweeney (R) by 51-44%.
Incumbent
Melissa Bean (D)
Elected in 2004; Seeking third term; Bean was nominated with 83% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
Steve Greenberg (R)Greenberg, a former hockey player, was nominated with 57% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: The lakefront has long been the most heavily Jewish part of Chicago, providing a solid bloc for the Democrats, involved with -- though skeptical of -- the old Democratic machine. Full Profile
2006 results: Jan Schakowsky (D) defeated Michael Shannon (R) by 75-25%.
Incumbent
Jan Schakowsky (D)
Elected in 1998; Seeking sixth term; Schakowsky was nominated with 88% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
Michael Younan (R)Younan, a businessman, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: With the big movement toward Dems in the Chicago suburbs in the '90s, this establishment GOP district voted narrowly for Al Gore and by a slightly larger margin for John Kerry. Full Profile
2006 results: Mark Kirk (R) defeated Dan Seals (D) by 53-47%.
Incumbent
Mark Kirk (R)
Elected in 2000; Seeking fifth term; Kirk was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Dan Seals (D)Seals, a marketing executive and former congressional aide, was nominated with 81% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: The 2001 redistricting made this district more Republican than its 1990s incarnation; George W. Bush won here with 53 percent in 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Jerry Weller (R) defeated John Pavich (D) by 55-45%.
Republican
Martin OzingaWeller elected not to seek an eighth term; Tim Baldermann was nominated with 62% in a three-way primary but dropped out of the race in February. Ozinga, a concrete company owner, was selected by the state GOP as the new nominee.
Democrat
Debbie Halvorson
Halvorson, the state senate majority leader, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The 12th District covers the riverfront from Alton south to Cairo, with some inland territory as well. Full Profile
2006 results: Jerry Costello (D) was unopposed.
Incumbent
Jerry Costello (D)
Elected Aug. 1988; Seeking eleventh full term; Costello was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Timmy Richardson (R)Richardson, a Navy veteran, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Politically, this has been a heavily GOP area, suspicious of the motives and operations of Chicago Democrats, devoted to free enterprise and hostile to higher taxes. Full Profile
2006 results: Judy Biggert (R) defeated Joseph Shannon (D) by 58-42%.
Incumbent
Judy Biggert (R)
Elected in 1998; Seeking sixth term; Biggert was nominated with 77% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
Scott Harper (D)Harper, a marketing firm owner, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The 14th district straddles the line between metropolitan Chicago and Downstate Illinois. Full Profile
2006 results: Dennis Hastert (R) defeated Jonathan Laesch (D) by 60-40%.
Special election: Hastert resigned Nov. 26, 2007; a primary for his seat was held on Feb. 5, 2008, and a special election for the remainder of his term was held on March 8, 2008, with scientist Bill Foster winning with 53% of the vote. See the special election tip sheet.
Incumbent
Bill Foster (D)
Elected in 2008; Seeking first full term. Foster was nominated with 42% in a four-way primary.
Challenger
Jim Oberweis (R)Oberweis, a dairy company owner, was nominated with 56% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: The 15th occupies much of the prairie counties, and it is generally a Republican district. Full Profile
2006 results: Tim Johnson (R) defeated David Gill (D) by 58-42%.
Incumbent
Tim Johnson (R)
Elected in 2000; Seeking fifth term; Johnson was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Steve Cox (D)Cox, a former State Department employee, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Politically, northern Illinois, perhaps repelled by Democratic Chicago, remained steadfastly GOP for many years. But recently the trend here has been the other way. Full Profile
2006 results: Don Manzullo (R) defeated Richard Auman (D) by 64-32%.
Incumbent
Don Manzullo (R)
Elected in 1992; Seeking ninth term; Manzullo was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Robert Abboud (D)Abboud, mayor of Barrington Hills, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The old 17th district gave George W. Bush a 6-percent margin in 2000; the newly gerrymandered 17th gave Al Gore a 10-percent margin. Full Profile
2006 results: Phil Hare (D) defeated Andrea Lane Zinga (R) by 57-43%.
Incumbent
Phil Hare (D)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Hare was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
None
District Profile: It is the home of Eureka College, which dedicated the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden in honor of its 1932 graduate and the end of the Cold War that he helped to achieve. Full Profile
2006 results: Ray LaHood (R) defeated Steve Waterworth (D) by 67-33%.
Republican
Aaron Schock
LaHood announced in July 2007 he would not seek reelection; Schock, a state representative, won with 71% in a three-way primary.
Democrat
Colleen CallahanCallahan, a former TV news reporter, was appointed by Democratic county chairs as a replacement for former basketball coach Dick Versace, who dropped out in December.
District Profile: Much of it is south of U.S. 40 and is paralleled by Interstate 70, the traditional boundary between the part of Downstate settled by Southerners and that settled by Yankees.Full Profile
2006 results: John Shimkus (R) defeated Danny Stover (D) by 61-39%.
Incumbent
John Shimkus (R)
Elected in 1996; Seeking seventh term; Shimkus was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Daniel Davis (D)Davis, a state worker, was nominated with 60% in a two-way primary.
Please send comments or corrections to AlmanacEditorial@nationaljournal.com.
Race Rankings
Based on likelihood of seat switching party control
1.
N.Y.-13
(Open-R)2.
N.Y.-25
(Open-R)3.
Ariz.-01
(Open-R)4.
Va.-11
(Open-R)5.
Fla.-16
(Mahoney-D)6.
Ill.-11
(Open-R)7.
Ohio-16
(Open-R)8.
Texas-22
(Lampson-D)9.
Alaska-AL
(Young-R)10.
Fla.-24
(Feeney-R)11.
N.J.-03
(Open-R)12.
Colo.-04
(Musgrave-R)13.
Mich.-09
(Knollenberg-R)14.
N.J.-07
(Open-R)15.
Minn.-06
(Bachmann-R)Previous Coverage
Check out National Journal's coverage of previous Illinois house races.
