* Lynn Sweet…
Someone is paying for a poll to test how former state Sen. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, would do against freshman Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., who represents the swing suburban sixth congressional district.
Ives, a conservative, almost defeated former Gov. Bruce Rauner and Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti in the March, 2018 GOP primary, with Rauner struggling to attract Republicans while also keeping a distance from President Donald Trump.
In April, Sanguinetti announced a March, 2020 GOP primary bid in the sixth. […]
Ives was asked, “Are you interested or thinking about running for Congress in the 6th district?” and she replied, “We’ve you know, this for me it’s always been a team decision. I don’t do anything without my team supporting it and we’ve not made a decision on any race at all.”
Asked about the origins of the survey, she said, “You know, I don’t control that,” adding that she was one of the people getting a call from the polling firm.
An Ives run has long been expected by several folks in the area.
* Somebody tweeted at me about the poll the other day…
* DCCC…
“Whether it’s Evelyn Sanguinetti or Jeanne Ives, it’s clear that Republicans will be running a rubber stamp in the 6th District for President Trump’s disastrous agenda of higher health care costs and higher taxes,” said DCCC spokesperson Mike Gwin. “Illinoisans want someone like Sean Casten who will stand up to President Trump when he hurts Illinois and threatens our values – not someone like Sanguinetti or Ives who will back him every step of the way.”
President Trump lost the 6th CD by 7 points in 2016. This is a formerly reliable GOP bastion, but it’s now a swing district for the near-term at least. Casten won by 7 points last year and Gov. Bruce Rauner won by 5. Rauner won by 33 points four years earlier. Obama lost it by 8 in 2012.
* Related…
* Former Illinois congressman Bobby Schilling eyeing run in Iowa’s 2nd District
