Spotlight on the IL 14th Congressional District

The Illinois 14th originates in the Chicago suburbs and stretches west toward the Iowa border, taking in the townships of Aurora, Batavia, DeKalb and Dixon (Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home). Republican Dennis Hastert represented this district from 1987-2007 and was elected Speaker of the House in 1999. It is notable that on June 1, 2006, Speaker Hastert surpassed Joseph Cannon as the longest serving Republican in that position. After the GOP lost the House in 2006, Hastert resigned the seat midway through the 110th Congress. Then Gov. Rod Blagojevich called a special election March 8, 2008 to fill out the remainder of Hastert’s term. Democrat Bill Foster won the special election over Republican Jim Oberweis, dairy magnate, whom he also faced in the November general election with the same unfortunate result. Foster readily climbed aboard the Obama liberal express with his votes for stimulus, health care reform and earned Obama extra credit by co-sponsoring the House version of Card Check. 14th District voters did vote for Illinois favorite son Obama in 2008, but they also gave George W. Bush double digit margins of victory in 2000 and 2004. To say that Bill Foster was not on the same wavelength as his constituents would be a gross understatement. Conservative Republican Randy Hultgren’s defeat of Ethan Hastert, Denny’s son, in the February primary was considered an upset. In a show of party unity, Ethan Hastert wholeheartedly endorsed Hultgren, who went on to win a convincing victory over Foster, 51% to 45%. Hultgren is a much better fit for the 14th. As a State Senator, he has a record of fighting to lower taxes, eliminating government waste, reducing health care costs, improving education and enhancing public safety.