Walsh decision sets up primary race against Hultgren

Rep. Joe Walsh’s decision to run for election in the newly drawn 14th Congressional District sets in motion a likely GOP primary bloodbath against fellow conservative Rep. Randy Hultgren of Winfield, who now holds the seat.

Walsh’s announcement Wednesday ensures Illinois will lose one incumbent congressman after the March primary election, but allows Walsh to avoid what could be an even bigger uphill battle in his now-Democratic-leaning 8th District.

“This will be the race in Illinois,” Roosevelt University political science professor Paul Green said of the Walsh-Hultgren matchup.

Green called the 14th District race a “barn burner” with “national significance.”

Walsh’s decision to run in the 14th — where his McHenry home is located — means both he and Hultgren will be forced to raise and spend big money early on that could otherwise have been diverted to the general election.

Hultgren, a quiet, spiritual father of four, may not have the name recognition as Walsh but is, to some, a safer pick over the silvery-haired firecracker who has catapulted onto the national stage with his controversial politics and his own family issues.

The new 14th District, created by Democratic mapmakers in the Illinois legislature, includes nearly equal portions of Kane and McHenry counties, as well as parts of Kendall, Will and DeKalb counties.

On Wednesday, Hultgren laid claim to it.

“I’m disappointed that the congressman from the 8th District has decided to abandon his own district to run against me in a primary,” Hultgren said in a statement. “By doing so, he’s playing into the hands of the Springfield Democrats.”

Walsh shot back, noting that the 14th District “made the most sense” because it contained both his home and the majority of his constituents. As the state loses a congressional seat due to slowing population growth, the 14th District is just one of several drawn by Democratic cartographers to include more than one Republican incumbent.

No matter which man wins the GOP primary, Democrats are essentially handed a victory, of sorts, with one of the Republican freshmen knocked from his post even before the general election takes place.

Walsh brings to the table a fervent base of grass-roots support, strong early fundraising and the backing of the influential conservative Club for Growth, along with the recent baggage of a lawsuit by his ex-wife over support for their three children and fallout from calling President Obama a “liar” and Republican Sen. John McCain a “troll” on network television.

Hultgren, a longtime state lawmaker, says he will build on relationships forged with McHenry County lawmakers in the state House and Senate, including state Rep. Mike Tryon of Crystal Lake and Sen. Pam Althoff of McHenry.

“Our hope is we’ll get people engaged and get groups engaged,” Hultgren said in a recent interview with the Daily Herald, noting that building a base of support in a new district is about “finding the pieces, going through committeemen, conservative groups, business groups, neighborhood groups and tea party groups.”

Both men will work to stake a claim on a conservative base, which may be difficult when the two candidates aren’t far apart on the issues.

Walsh points to Hultgren’s voting record against his party as a copycat move meant to show staunch McHenry County Republicans that he is just as conservative as Walsh.

But Hultgren says that’s a coincidence, noting he voted against the party line with a Patriot Act vote and budget votes long before any battle materialized against Walsh.

Walsh has a folksy appeal, frequently throwing “gosh darn it” and “kiddo” into conversation. Hultgren, in recent weeks, has also laced his town halls and chamber meetings with personal anecdotes, speaking about his family’s early struggles with its funeral home in Winfield and of his and his wife’s first one-room home that was “as big as a garage.”

While Walsh likes to call himself a radically old kind of representative, hearkening back to the days of the Founding Fathers, Hultgren reminds voters that he, too, is in touch with early American values.

Illinois GOP officials have said they plan to stay out of the primary race, letting both candidates swing it out before throwing money — and support — behind the eventual victor.

Until that time, a bloodbath, however unfortunate, is likely in store. Hultgren has said he won’t “make things personal” but admits, at the same time, “campaigns are where that’s the hardest. Especially when there’s not that much difference on the issues.”