* I’ve been told by a very top source that Kinzinger will run in the 16th. This report is from Kurt Erickson at Lee Newspapers…
Mapped out of his home territory by a new Democratic map, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger could be gearing up to run in a district stretching from Livingston County to Rockford.
In a note distributed Saturday, Livingston County Republican Party Chairman John McGlasson said Kinzinger may be planning to run in the newly drawn 16th Congressional District in the 2012 election.
That would set up a potential face-off against fellow GOP colleague Don Manzullo. Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of McHenry also may be angling for a shot in the 16th after Democrats drew him into a district with Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren of Winfield.
The confusing jockeying by Republicans is exactly what Democrats had hoped would happen as they released a proposed new set of boundaries for Illinois congressional districts Friday. The map is drawn to favor Democrats and puts Kinzinger, a former member of the McLean County Board, into a tough-to-win district with Democratic U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. […]
In his note, McGlasson said Kinzinger “has called to say he intends to run for election in our new district.”
* And some potential primaries are taking shape for the Democrats as well…
Former U.S. Rep. Bill Foster has plans to make another run at Congress. The Foster campaign on Saturday confirmed that Foster on Tuesday is expected to announce that he will be running in the Congressional district containing Aurora.
A filing with the Federal Election Commission shows that Foster, of Batavia, filed to run as a Democrat in the proposed 11th District, which would cover Naperville and Joliet in addition to Aurora. He would run in the 2012 election.
Foster, a Democrat, represented the 14th District for more than two years before losing the seat to Randy Hultgren in November.
* That district wasn’t meant for Foster…
But state legislative leaders want Foster, a physicist and businessman, to run in an expansive new 14th district that includes his home in Batavia and runs from far north suburban Antioch and Harvard to southwest suburban Minooka.
Democrats, who control both houses of the state Legislature, could approve the new congressional map Sunday.
The new map of the 11th district includes Burr Ridge, where insurance broker John Atkinson lives. Atkinson, though, has already raised $500,000 to launch a primary challenge in the 3rd district against Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat from the Southwest Side.
“I have serious policy differences with Dan Lipinski — I would prefer someone in that seat who wanted to work with the president,” Atkinson said Saturday.
But state Democratic leaders want Atkinson to win a new seat for Democrats in the 11th rather than challenge Lipinski, an ally of powerful state House Speaker Michael Madigan, who lives in the 3rd district.
Atkinson said Saturday he was still evaluating what to do.
“I’m not going to be rushed — this is not about who plants a flag first. This is about who puts together a campaign to be able to win,” he said.
Best laid plans, etc.
* Meanwhile, the jockeying has begun in the 13th…
The new 13th District includes the home of U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, but it is a virtually new district for him, including not only most of Champaign-Urbana, but also most of Bloomington-Normal, and Springfield, Decatur and some parts of Democratic Madison County.
It would be a politically competitive district, said Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign.
Frerichs was coy when asked if he would be interested in running in the district, which has a heavy tilt toward higher education and student voters. It has four public universities — the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Illinois-Springfield, Illinois State University and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville — plus a number of private schools, including Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington and Millikin University in Decatur.
“I’ve told people I’m interested in serving the people of East Central Illinois,” he said. “I think I am happy where I am today.”
* But don’t count on this happening…
One feature of the new map is a district connecting Decatur with the east side of Springfield. It appears designed to oust freshman Republican state Rep. Adam Brown of Decatur and replace him with a Democrat.
Which got us to thinking: Is there a Democrat who lives in Decatur but works in Springfield and has extensive knowledge of both state government and Decatur city government?
Indeed, there is. His name is Michael Carrigan, a former member of the Decatur City Council who serves as president of the Illinois AFL-CIO.
We ran the scenario past him during a break in the action of the General Assembly last week. He laughed and said he was a bit too busy to contemplate the idea of running for the seat because of the crush of legislative business under way in the Capitol.
* And Democrats Ilya Sheyman of Waukegan and Brad Schneider of Deerfield have already opened campaign offices in the new 10th District…
Sheyman, who was endorsed by former presidential candidate and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean this week, likes the look as well. He has lived and worked in the areas as a community organizer. He feels he knows the people and their needs.
“I’m extremely pleased Buffalo Grove where I grew up and Waukegan where I live are in the district,” Sheyman said. “These are communities I have organized for years.”
Though the campaign is young, charges have already been made Schneider has voted in Republican primary elections and donated $3,300 to Kirk. He explained he voted in the 2000 Republican primary to support close friend Andy Hochberg.
Local Democrats are looking elsewhere, however.
* In other news, Chinese-American groups are upset at the new congressional map. From a press release…
The Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC) is deeply disappointed with the Illinois Congressional map proposal, issued yesterday, which continues to divide the Greater Chinatown community area into three districts at the Congressional level. After a great deal of hard work to keep the community intact at all levels in the redistricting process, CBCAC considers this new development to be a setback in its effort to gain fair voting rights for the Chicago Chinatown community. Despite the community’s success with the state house and senate maps, which keep Chinatown intact, the result of Congressional redistricting indicates a lack of regard for the community that is unacceptable.
CBCAC is disappointed in the process that did not provide opportunity for input in the drawing of Congressional boundaries and asks that adjustments be made in the remaining time before the map is passed by the state legislature. For the past ten years, the Chinatown community has suffered from neglect and poor representation as a result of the way it was fractured at all levels during the 2001 redistricting process. According to the 2010 census, the Asian population in Illinois grew by 38.6 percent, the fastest rate among minority groups in the state. The area that is currently and continues to be divided between Danny Davis’s 7th District, Daniel Lipinski’s 3rd District, and Luis Gutierrez’s 4th District, includes about 30,000 Asian Americans, an increase of more than 50 percent since the 2000 census. The people in this community deserve better. We call on the Illinois Senate and House Redistricting Committees to address our community’s concerns so that we may be fairly represented all levels of government.
* Related…
* Editorial: Guv has every excuse to veto this map, too
* Map proposal for congressional districts unifies Macon County with Shimkus as incumbent
* Marion and Most Area Counties Put Into 15th Congressional District Under Proposed Redistricting Map
LIVE session coverage...
- Cassiopeia - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 2:11 pm:
Since the dumbist thing that Quinn could do is to tinker with the map by an amendatory veto what are the odds that he will?
I think it is highly likely that he will not be able to resist it.
- wordslinger - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 2:20 pm:
–A filing with the Federal Election Commission shows that Foster, of Batavia, filed to run as a Democrat in the proposed 11th District,–
How you can you file to run in a district that does not yet exist?
–Sheyman, who was endorsed by former presidential candidate and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean this week, likes the look as well.–
That should scare off any potential challengers up in Lake and northern Cook, lol.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 2:38 pm:
How does Sheyman have extensive experience doing anything? He is in his 20s! As far as Local Democrats looking elsewhere, Garrett, Link and Nenkritz are not running, nor is Seals. One would assume Schneider is the front runner.
- Rich Miller - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 2:55 pm:
===One would assume Schneider is the front runner. ===
Just because you can’t name anybody doesn’t mean there isn’t anybody.
- Left Out - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 3:10 pm:
Illinois is increasing in population, by about 3.3% in the 2010 census. At the same time the propulation of Chicago went down by about 7% to the level it was at in 1920. Almost all of the recent growth has taken place in the suburbs.
What about power? Well the proposed map changes all that. It is clear that the map was drawn with the goal of keeping power in the City of Chicago. Many of the districts look like spokes on a wheel. They start in Chicago where ‘the machine’ runs things and go out where they do not. By placing the correct number of people in the city and the suburbs into a district the power will stay in Chicago.
- anonymous - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 3:18 pm:
@ Rahm’s Parking Meter - The DCCC is working w/ Sheyman and Schneider but they are not who the DCCC has been recruiting.
Seals was a block and a half from the old 10th. The house that Dold’s parents bought for him was just inside the old 10th.
Both Seals and Dold are now well inside the new 9th however.
If Seals didn’t move before, why would he now? And Dold will show how serious he is about running for re-election by whether or not he moves out of his parents’ house and into what sort of new place (rental, single family house, which city, etc).
By the by, conservative wonderboy Paul Ryan was 28 when he first ran up in Wisconsin. Ryan’s life experience included a stint (literally) as an Oscar Meyer Weinermobile driver.
- anonymous - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 3:29 pm:
PS to my 3:18 post - yes, I know Congressmen don’t need to live in the district for which they run.
- Shore - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 4:10 pm:
Ryan had worked for the us senator in wisconsin-kasten, had been an LD for a us senator-brownback and had worked for 2 former bush and reagan era cabinet members in kemp and bennett with extensive national networks in addition to having a family that owned a business in the district. sheyman’s been an intern, and organized a few rallies, big difference. the 2 don’t compare.
If the manzullo/kinzinger and hultgren/walsh races come into form I think those will be the 2 most interesting to watch as they will tell us a lot about how republicans in illinois feel about the tea party and whether now that they’ve seen them in action they really want them running the party.
- Conservative Veteran - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 5:00 pm:
I live in the 10th District, and, in the new map, I’ll live in the 9th District. I hope that Rep. Hultgren will run in the 14th Dist., Rep. Walsh will run in the 10th Dist., Rep. Dold will run in the 8th Dist., and State Sen. Lauzen will run in the 11th Dist.
- Overworked - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 5:35 pm:
@Anonymous 3:18PM - Brad Schneider in the Tenth will be a very strong candidate. I’ve heard his fundraising is off to a very good start. He’s a moderate Democrat, with a strong business record who will fit that district well.
The DCCC may not have been recruiting him, but they are now looking to avoid a primary and wont be recruiting anyone else. Anyone who wants that seat will need a VERY strong June fundraising report.
I would agree, despite Rich’s push back, that at present, Schneider is the frontrunner.
- just sayin' - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 8:24 pm:
John Shimkus was first elected on a promise to term limit himself. He broke that promise some years ago, and kept running beyond the number of terms he pledged not to exceed.
It’s long past time Shimkus made amends. Get some new blood. Shimkus and his promise breaking won’t be missed.
- anonymous - Sunday, May 29, 11 @ 10:53 pm:
@ shore - “Ryan had worked for the us senator in wisconsin-kasten, had been an LD for a us senator-brownback ” blah blah blah
So now you’re saying conservatives prefer Washington insiders?
LOL! Give it up man and go back to calling Dan Seals silly names.
/////
@ con vet - why would Dold run in the 8th instead of the 10th? Just curious what your rationale is.
I could see Walsh going for the 10th too just for kicks.
- Statesman - Monday, May 30, 11 @ 8:24 am:
Atkinson is posturing. He circulated letters to his supporters indicating his intentions to move forward with his middle class agenda (as seen through the eyes of a wealthy burr ridge insurance exec). It is no surprise that he received a district carve out to pit him against and R and assist a move to turn Illinois bluer.