Dem wins Hastert seat
Posted: Sunday, March 09, 2008 12:48 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Congress, Democrats, Republicans
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Democrats
picked up where the 2006 mid-term elections left off. They picked up
yet another Republican seat, this one former House speaker Dennis
Hastert's seat. Bill Foster won the special election to replace Hastert
in the 14th Congressional District in Illinois by a 52.5% to 47.5%
margin over Republican Jim Oberweis, who had been favored.
It's a place where Obama ran advertising
endorsing Foster, and McCain campaigned for Oberweis. Whether this will
have national implications is unclear, but the Democratic National
Committee seized on it with this exuberant e-mail late last night:
“Good evening, The AP just
called the special election to fill Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois'
14th Congressional District for Democrat Bill Foster. Foster defeated
Republican Jim Oberweis despite the fact that McCain campaigned and
raised money for Oberweis in late February. So much for those
coattails…”
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Chairman Chris Van Hollen said, per AP, "The message to Republican
candidates is that John McCain's not going to be able to save you in
this election.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee, meanwhile, downplayed the result.
"The one thing 2008 has shown is that one
election in one state does not prove a trend," spokeswoman Karen
Hanretty said in a statement per the AP.
Obama also put out a statement, congratulating his “friend.”
“I want to congratulate my friend Bill Foster on winning his race for Congress,” Obama said in a statement released by the campaign. “As a distinguished scientist and successful businessman, Congressman-elect Foster has demonstrated the kind of vision and leadership we need in Washington. And his victory today shows that change is sweeping this country. By electing him to a traditionally Republican seat -- a seat that former Speaker Dennis Hastert held for 20 years -- the people of Illinois have sent an unmistakable message that they're tired of business-as-usual in Washington. I look forward to fighting side-by-side with Congressman-elect Foster to end the Iraq war, to take immediate steps to strengthen our economy, and to bring about real change not just in Illinois, but all across America.”
One place this does resonate on the national level is that Foster will be a superdelegate at the August convention. Chalk another up for Obama.
