|
|
Articles
House Hunt - Democrats are making a race of it in the GOP's 10th District base
Crain's - June 19, 2006
Chicago-area voters are enjoying a rare treat this election year.
Usually, voters are an afterthought when it comes to selecting local members of Congress. The politicians in both parties have done such a fine job at reapportionment that any real fights occur in the March primaries, leaving little, if anything, to decide in the November general election.
Not this year. Two top-tier races already are under way in metropolitan Chicago.
Those would be the northwest suburban 8th District, where Democrat Melissa Bean is trying to show her upset of GOP war horse Philip Crane two years ago was no fluke, and the west suburban 6th District, where Democrats are hoping to take advantage of the retirement of GOP veteran Henry Hyde.
Now comes word of one more race that, depending on national trends, is at least worth watching.
It's up on the North Shore, in an area once considered as solidly Republican as a country club luncheon. But this time, signs are growing that GOP incumbent Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park could have a much harder time than many expected against the Democratic nominee, Wilmette businessman Dan Seals.
The online newsletter Cook Political Report, one of the Beltway's better handicappers, last month put the 10th on its list of about 50 seats the GOP conceivably could lose this fall. Mr. Seals raised $374,000 in the first quarter and says he's "in that ballpark" for the second quarter — well behind what Rep. Kirk has in the bank, but pretty good for a guy running his first race.
Perhaps most telling: Illinois' two U.S. senators, rock star Barack Obama and Democratic Whip Richard Durbin, have jumped into the race big time, committing money, attention and personal time to the effort.
"Dan Seals has grown dramatically as a candidate," says Sen. Durbin, who's co-hosting a Chicago fund-raiser for Mr. Seals on June 27, along with Sen. Obama (who hosted another fund-raiser last Friday) and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "More and more people, both political people and contributors, are calling me on his behalf."
The senatorial involvement clearly is more than perfunctory, and has sparked chatter as to what's up.
Sen. Obama declined comment, but party insiders suggest Mr. Seals reminds the senator of himself: young, attractive, articulate and African-American. Sen. Durbin says he's just helping a good candidate, but others say it's no coincidence that the target is Rep. Kirk, who many consider the GOP's strongest choice to oppose Sen. Durbin's re-election in 2008.
Mr. Seals says he doesn't know if that's true, but neither is he looking any gift horses in the mouth. Instead, the 34-year-old executive at General Electric Commercial Finance is trying to make the race a referendum on President George W. Bush, whose popularity has sagged in the socially moderate, soccer mom district.
"The (Bush) administration has taken us down the wrong path," Mr. Seals contends. "The only way to stop them is (for Democrats) to win back one of the houses of Congress."
Though Rep. Kirk positions himself as a moderate, "His job as deputy House Republican whip is to get the conservative agenda passed," adds Mr. Seals, the son of former Chicago Bears' guard George Seals.
Rep. Kirk, not wanting to give Mr. Seals any unearned attention, so far is shrugging off the race, at least publicly. He declined to be interviewed, but in a statement noted his campaign has $1.4 million in the bank, that he won by a 2-1 margin in 2004 and that he expects to be endorsed by a major pro-choice group this fall.
Indeed, Rep. Kirk is the solid favorite. Mr. Seals' slim prospects will vanish if he stumbles or President Bush's popularity revives.
Still, the real story should become clear around, say, late September, when Rep. Emanuel has to decide how to parcel out his limited war chest. "We're watching," he says. "Meanwhile, (Mr. Seals) is doing all the right things to build a credible campaign."
Back to Articles Download PDF
|
|
