Unexpected battle looms in Illinois primary
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Illinois' 12th Congressional District primaries this coming Tuesday were supposed to be among the year's sleepiest. Eleven-term incumbent Jerry Costello, a powerful Belleville Democrat and the state's senior congressman, appeared to be a shoo-in for re-election, with no primary challenger on the horizon and few Republicans anxious to take him on.
Then in early October, Costello unexpectedly announced he would retire after his current term.
It was the starting gun for a frantic race that no one saw coming.
"The Democrats were assuming they were safe in the 12th" until Costello's announcement, said political scientist Kent Redfield of the University of Illinois at Springfield. "It makes the map more complicated than they thought it would be and provides the Republicans with an opportunity."
That explains why the district's primaries have drawn a total of five candidates, three of them Republicans. The winners of each of the two party primaries will square off in the November general election in a region that has been in Democratic hands for well over a half-century — but which has been trending Republican in recent years.
Metro East voters on Tuesday will also help choose nominees for the 13th and 15th congressional districts. And voters across Illinois will nominate candidates for all 177 seats in the Illinois House and Senate, which, like the congressional seats, are under a new map because of this year's redistricting process.
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