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Illinois Issues
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Legislative: As Chicago's Suburbs Grow Hard to Label, Some Lawmakers Have Opted to Switch Parties

 

As Chicago's suburbs grow increasingly hard to label as predominantly Republican because of shifting demographics, some lawmakers have opted to switch parties.

The area is becoming a purple haze, and a challenge to Republican incumbents. While Illinois House Republicans lost only one incumbent in the 2006 elections, the Senate lost five — four from the Chicago suburbs.

However, polls suggest that Democratic Gov. Blagojevich's approval ratings sank after the summer when he and top lawmakers spent months in unprecedented and well-publicized gridlock. Lawmakers left Springfield after accomplishing little more than approving their own pay raises.
But his party does have a substantial advantage of 67 Democrats to 51 Republicans in the House, and the state's legislative boundaries were drawn to protect incumbents.

In addition, several House Republicans plan to retire or seek other offices, possibly sparking up-for-grabs campaigns that will draw the attention and the funding of both political parties. The challenge for the GOP appears nearly insurmountable in the Senate. Democrats in that chamber hold a strong 37-22 advantage. That gives them enough votes — if they stick together — for a three-fifths supermajority to override the governor's vetoes or approve major spending plans without GOP support.

While Senate Democrats could struggle to build on their majority, Republicans' daunting task includes the retirements two long-term lawmakers.

KEY LEGISLATIVE RACES

In some cases, Democrats and Republicans are likely to target vacated seats for victory because there's no incumbent who has the advantage of name recognition. Here's a list of the legislators who announced their retirements and the candidates trying to replace them:

HOUSE

32nd District Retiring Milton "Milt" Patterson, a Chicago Democrat.

40th District Running for state Senate Rich Bradley, a Chicago Democrat; possible replacement: Democrat Deborah Mell of Chicago

48th District Retiring Jim Meyer, a Bolingbrook Republican; possible replacements: Republicans Dave Carlin of Naperville, Michael Connelly of Lisle and Douglas Krause of Naperville 

50th District Retiring Patricia Reid Lindner, an Aurora Republican; possible replacements: Democrat Mary Schneider of Batavia and Republicans Anton Graff of Yorkville, Kay Hatcher of Yorkville, Terry Huntof Big Rock and David Richmond of Batavia

66th District Retiring Carolyn Krause, a Mount Prospect Republican; possible replacements: Democrat Mark Walker of Arlington Heights and Republicans Laura Bartell of Arlington Heights and Christine Prochno of Elk Grove Village

92nd District Running for Congress Aaron Schock, a Peoria Republican; possible replacements: Democrats Allen Mayer of Peoria and Jehan Gordon of Peoria and Republican Cindy Ardis Jenkins of Peoria

96th District Retiring Joseph Dunn, a Naperville Republican; possible replacements: Democrat Dianne McGuire of Naperville and Republicans MichaelBolwer of Aurora and Darlene Senger of Naperville

104th District Retiring Bill Black, a Danville Republican; possible replacement Scott Eisenhauer of Danville

107th District Retiring Kurt Granberg, a Carlyle Democrat who hopes to join the Blagojevich Administration; possible replacements: Democrats Patti Hahn of Centralia, Travis Loyd of Mt. Vernon and Republican John Cavaletto of Salem

SENATE

7th District Retiring Carol Ronen, a Chicago Democrat joining the Blagojevich Administration; possible replacements: Democrats Heather Steans of Chicago and Suzanne Elder of Chicago 26th District Retiring William Peterson, a Long Grove Republican; possible replacements: Democrats Bill Gentes of Round Lake and Richard Hammes of North Barrington and Republican Dan Duffy of Lake Barrington

45th District Retiring Todd Sieben, a Geneseo Republican; possible replacements: Democrat Marty Mulcahey of Galena and Republican Tim Bivins of Dixon

 

Democratic Party of Illinois

Illinois Republican Party

Reported by Mike Riopell


Illinois Issues, December 2007

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