Lack of debate, money highlight 14th Congress race

A race between the candidates for the 14th Congressional District has been low key, in part, because of a lack of public debate and relatively little money flowing into the contest.

The average cost of winning a House seat was about $1.6 million in 2012, when incumbent Republican Randy Hultgren of Winfield and Democratic challenger Dennis Anderson first squared off.

In their 2014 rematch, Hultgren has raised only $1.1 million and spent about $811,000. His need to raise money was perhaps softened by Anderson's even lower totals. The Gurnee Democrat raised only about $54,000 for the contest, spending about $45,000, as of Oct. 15, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The lack of money in the race may be a reflection of the security Republicans have about Hultgren winning the rematch of a contest that went 59 percent to 41 percent in favor of Hultgren just two years ago. The boundaries of the 14th Congressional District are also generally believed to heavily favor Republicans following the remap from the last census.

All of those factors pushed Anderson to run a more aggressive campaign this time around. He's hosted 19 town hall meetings. During many of them he's called out Hultgren for votes and an unwillingness to debate him.

The lack of debates in the contest sparked a small protest march outside Hultgren's Geneva office earlier this month. And members of four League of Women Voters chapters decried an inability to get Hultgren to partake in any candidate forums via letters published in several local newspapers.

During an interview with the Daily Herald's editorial board last month, Hultgren said he expected to partake in "three or four forums where people can ask questions" along with Anderson.

"There will definitely be at least one or two debates, then somewhere where we'll be together answering questions," Hultgren said.

There's been only one full debate in the contest, hosted by the Kendall County Farm Bureau. There have been no other joint appearances. That contrasts with races considered "hot" contests, including the 10th Congressional District race between Democrat Brad Schneider and Republican Robert Dold.

Hultgren has hosted his own series of topic community forums about health care, human trafficking and education in recent months. But Anderson was neither invited, nor involved with any of them. Anderson said he's not surprised by the strategy.

"It's not the best option for the voters, but the safe option is to avoid forums where you might be confronted with questions you're not comfortable with," Anderson said. "I'm very disappointed, but I'm not surprised."

Anderson said he's run the campaign he envisioned when deciding to take a second shot at the seat. The 19 town halls, which Hultgren wasn't invited to, put Anderson in touch with voters, he said, but the audiences didn't include as many conservatives as he'd hoped.

"I have made myself available," Anderson said. "I have been clear and open in my views. I've been paying attention to people. I hope that rings a bell with people."

Hultgren's campaign says voters have had ample opportunities to compare and contrast the candidates.

A campaign spokesman pointed to the Kendall County forum, various media outlet candidate questionnaires and multiple editorial board endorsement interviews as examples of the variety of outlets to get information on Hultgren's views.

The 14th Congressional District includes parts of DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Lake counties.