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Coolidge wraps up 6th congressional Dem nomination

Leslie Coolidge, an Ivy League accountant, thinks the new math of the 6th Congressional District will add up in her favor.

Her relatively easy victory in the Democratic primary Tuesday sets her up for a general election campaign against GOP heavyweight U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam.

With 99 percent of the vote in, Coolidge, of Barrington Hills, had 9,610 votes, according to unofficial results.

Maureen Yates, of Barrington, and Geoff Petzel, of Lake Zurich, have 5,734 and 2,270 votes, respectively.

Roskam, a Wheaton attorney, is GOP Chief Deputy Whip and a tough campaigner with a deep war chest.

“He is a formidable opponent. I have every intention of giving him a good, competitive race,” Coolidge said. “This is the end of the beginning.”

Coolidge, 52, reached out to voters in the 6th District with three mailers, outspending her rivals by a wide margin.

She has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from New York University. Coolidge was a partner in KPMG until her retirement in 2009.

The statewide remap changed the 6th District so it not only includes suburban Cook County and predominantly Republican DuPage but also parts of Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

“I think he has largely a new district,” Coolidge said of Roskam. “In the northern half of the district, people don’t know him well at all.”

So far the national Democratic campaign organization has held back on offering financial or strategic support. After the primary, “we’ll reach out to them,” Coolidge said.

Yates, 75, is a retired businesswoman who grew up in Great Britain and remembers the devastation of World War II. “I would have beaten Leslie if she didn’t have millions,” she said Tuesday night.

Petzel, 28, is executive director of the Friends of the Fox River.

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