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Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Hastert to Retire? IL-14 in 2006

Talk about burrying the lede. I knew Dennis Hastert's career was coming to a close, but I had no idea 2006 was going to be the end.

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) has circulated a document to his K Street donors that ranks the “efficiency” of the top 10 House leadership PACs, breaking down how much each of them contributed to candidates as a percentage of total expenditures.

The rankings are prompting operatives on K Street to believe Boehner will need to be taken seriously in a leadership reshuffle after the expected retirement of Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) at the end of the 109th Congress.

So would we be able to mount a challenge on IL-14 in 2006? Probably not. It is a pretty rural area, with the exception of Aurora, that stretches from the suburbs of Chicago out west through farm country towards Iowa. In 2000, President Bush carried Illinois' 14th CD 54% to 42% over Al Gore. Dennis Hastert was initially elected in 1986 with 52% of the vote and hasn't faced a serious challenge since then. In 2004, Hastert handled Democrat Ruben Zamora 69% to 31%.

Interestingly enough, there is a growing hispanic demographic in the district that now accounts for 20% of the population. Still, the top two priorities in Illinois for 2006 should be:

1.) Taking out Henry Hyde (R) (or his replacement) in IL-6 with Christine Cegelis (D)

2.) Defending the seat of Melissa Bean (D) who upset 36 year incumbent Phil Crane (R) in IL-8.

Posted at 10:42 AM in 2006 Elections, 2006 Elections - House, Illinois | Technorati

Comments

Don't write off the 14th so fast! There are plenty of us blues in the 14th. We just need some organizin and a lesson in grassroots fundraising. Oh yeah, and a decent candidate...

Posted by: raisin at February 8, 2005 03:00 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment