2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election

2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election

←  2006 March 8, 2008 (2008-03-08) November 2008  →
Illinois's 14th congressional district
Nominee Bill Foster Jim Oberweis Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 52,205 47,180 Percentage 52.53% 47.47%
U.S. Representative before election Dennis Hastert Republican Elected U.S. Representative Bill Foster Democratic

After the resignation of Republican Party United States Congressman Dennis Hastert from his Illinois's 14th congressional district seat in the United States House of Representatives on November 26, 2007, ^[1] a special election was held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 110th United States Congress.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich set the special election date for March 8, 2008. The Democratic and Republican parties held special primary elections on February 5, 2008. Democrat Bill Foster won the election on March 8, 2008.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Bill Foster, physicist and business owner
• John Laesch, 2006 Democratic candidate for Congress
• Jotham Stein, attorney

Results

Democratic Primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	32,982	49.60
	Democratic	John Laesch	28,433	42.76
	Democratic	Jotham Stein	5,082	7.64
Total votes			66,497	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jim Oberweis, 2002 Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, 2004 Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, 2006 Republican candidate for Governor, owner of Oberweis Dairy
• Chris Lauzen, Illinois State Senator

Campaign

Chris Lauzen officially began his campaign on September 19, 2007. ^[3] Rudy Clai officially entered the race on October 7, ^[4] but withdrew less than a month later, citing dysfunction within the Illinois Republican Party.

The race was very competitive between Lauzen and Oberweis. On January 15, 2008, they debated at Aurora University. During the debate, Oberweis raised questions regarding International Profit Associates, a company that donated $100,000 to Lauzen's campaign and was being investigated for widespread sexual harassment and fraud. ^[5]

The Chicago Tribune endorsed Oberweis, stating that had a better command on national issues. ^[6] Dennis Hastert endorsed Oberweis on December 13, and Kevin Burns subsequently withdrew his candidacy. ^[7] Lauzen received endorsements from the Aurora Beacon News, the Kane County Chronicle , the DeKalb Daily Chronicle and the Chicago Daily Herald .

Results

Republican Primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	41,980	56.02
	Republican	Chris Lauzen	32,955	43.98
Total votes			74,935	100.00

General election

Negative advertisement campaign

The race for the 14th district was marked by intense negative campaigning between the regular primary elections of February 5 and the special elections of March 8. Oberweis, with $2.3 million of his own money and an additional $1 million provided by the National Republican Congressional Committee, attacked Foster on his various political stances. ^[8] Foster, with $1.8 million of his own money and an additional $1 million provided by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, ^[8] countered that Oberweis had employed illegal immigrants in his retail stores. ^[9]

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared in a television ad for Foster that ran immediately prior to the special election. John McCain endorsed Oberweis. ^[10]

Endorsements

The Chicago Tribune endorsed Bill Foster for the seat in its March 4, 2008 edition based on Oberweis' history of "nasty, smug, condescending ... and dishonest" campaigning, and Foster's position that he would be a Blue Dog Democrat. ^[11] The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Oberweis as "forceful and informed", painting Foster as "poorly informed" and unable to discuss specific issues in depth. ^[9]

Results

Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, 2008 ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Foster	52,205	52.53
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	47,180	47.47
Total votes			99,385	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

The election of Foster over Oberweis ended a 20-year Republican streak of holding the seat. The election of Foster also brought speculation that Republicans would lose three more seats up for re-election in the November general election, resulting in a 14–5 Democratic advantage in Congress for Illinois. ^[13]

Observers cited several factors explaining Foster's victory, including rapid suburbanization of Kane and Kendall Counties, Foster's position regarding the expansion of health-care and his support of immigration-reform, including a path to citizenship, and Lauzen's refusal to endorse Oberweis following the Republican primary. In contrast, Oberweis' campaign tactics were criticized, including the overuse of mass mailings and automated phone calls to remind voters of the special election. ^[13] Reporter John Fund of The Wall Street Journal pointed to the failure of Lauzen to endorse Oberweis, Hastert's preference for "self-funded" but unskilled candidates, and local reviews that the NRCC ads were "nasty," "stupid," "largely incomprehensible" and "factless" as additional reasons why Foster won the seat. By contrast, Fund noted that the Democratic party spent much of its funding on an ad featuring Obama touting Foster's credentials as a physicist and problem-solver. ^[14]

Governor Rod Blagojevich had scheduled the special election for Saturday, March 8 in an attempt to increase voter turnout. However, the election drew a low voter turnout, with only 22 percent of registered voters participating. ^{[15] [16]}

Although it was initially thought that Foster would not be sworn in until April due to the need to count absentee ballots before the election would be certified, he took the oath of office on March 11. ^[17] On his first day in office he cast the deciding vote ^[18] to keep from tabling an ethics bill that would create an independent outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members. ^[19]

Foster's victory was the first time a House seat flipped parties in a special election since Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin won the open South Dakota at-large seat of Republican Bill Janklow in June 2004. ^[20]

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
• 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois
• 2008 Louisiana's 6th congressional district special election
• 2008 Mississippi's 1st congressional district special election

References

1. "Hastert submits official resignation letter". Associated Press. November 26, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
2. "Ballots Cast". Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
3. Kraushaar, Josh (September 15, 2007). "Conservative Enters Race For Hastert's Seat". The Politico. CBS News. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
4. Salles, Andre (September 30, 2007). "Entertainment promoter is 7th candidate in 14th District race" (PDF). The Beacon News. Sun-Times News Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
5. Kimberly, James (January 16, 2008). "Oberweis slams Lauzen, citing delay in return of campaign contribution". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
6. "More choices for Congress" (Editorial). Chicago Tribune. January 16, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
7. "Kevin Burns for Congress". Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
8. Kimberly, James (March 9, 2008). "Race to replace Hastert is in national spotlight - But November brings a rematch". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
9. Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board (March 6, 2008). "Jim Oberweis for the U.S. House". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
10. Kimberly, James (March 8, 2008). "Vote today, but it's just Round One". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
11. Chicago Tribune Editorial Board (March 4, 2008). "For Congress: Bill Foster". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
12. "Ballots Cast". Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
13. Pearson, Rick (March 10, 2008). "Foster win a big blow to GOP - Loss of Hastert's seat, Obama's rise could further hurt party in other races". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
14. Fund, John (March 10, 2008). "Reagan Country Votes Democratic". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
15. Sarkauskas, Susan (March 9, 2008). "Foster takes Hastert's seat". Daily Herald . Retrieved March 10, 2008.
16. Kimberly, James (March 9, 2008). "Foster takes seat from GOP - Democrat to succeed Hastert in Republican stronghold". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
17. Hague, Leslie (March 11, 2008). "Foster sworn into Congress". Daily Herald. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
18. "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 121". March 11, 2008.
19. Jim Tankersley. "First day, swing vote for new Rep. Bill Foster". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on March 17, 2008.
20. Giroux, Greg (March 10, 2008). "Unusual Party Flip in Illinois Special Election". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on November 9, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2008.