Balanced story on IL 6th CD, has Cegelis favored

[wndycty]

Very good article in today's Sun-Times, a poly sci expert is giving a slight advantage to Cegelis.

6th Dist. Dems in slugfest for House

March 10, 2006

BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter
Ask Democrats in the 6th Congressional District about the race to succeed GOP Rep. Henry Hyde, and they agree they have a shot at winning.

The agreement ends there.

The retirement of Hyde -- a Republican who represented the district for 32 years -- sent national leaders of both parties into a frenzy.

Democrats saw a battlefield in their fight to retake the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans saw a district they had to keep. But while Republicans have united behind state Sen. Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton), Democrats face a primary March 21 among three sharply different candidates: Christine Cegelis, Tammy Duckworth and Lindy Scott.

"In Illinois, this is the most interesting and may turn out to be the most competitive one we've got," said John Jackson, a professor at Southern Illinois University's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. "This is an area where, demographically, it's trending in a Democratic direction. So it gives Democrats some reasonable hope."

The 6th District encompasses most of DuPage County as it sweeps westward from the edges of Cook County. Historically, it ranked as a safe Republican district. But in 2004, Cegelis gave Hyde his closest race in 30 years. The single mother and software engineer took 44.5 percent of the vote to Hyde's 55.5 percent.

Despite that showing, the national Democratic establishment is not supporting Cegelis this time. Instead, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), drafted Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and double amputee.
-snip-

At this stage, only one thing about the primary looks certain: It is not a slam dunk for any of the candidates.

"It's close," Dudycha said. "Christine is probably ahead, but it's really hard to predict."
-end-

http://suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-cong10.html#

[Larkspur]

1. Three things win elections -- Money, Organization, and Message

The candidate who has all three will prevail.

[formernaderite]

2. I'm rooting for Cegelis shes earned another go

after doing so well in 2004.