Democrats target the 10th District
While they didn't offer much help in his surprisingly close race in 2006, national Democratic Party leaders have quickly seized on the candidacy of Dan Seals in the 10th Congressional District.
Buoyed by a rout of his primary challenger, Seals can expect some big-time help in his second try to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, who is seeking a fifth term.
"They called me," an energized Seals explained Thursday after an event with Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland congressman, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
"That's the reason I'm here -- to make it clear we fully support Dan," Van Hollen said after the event.
With veterans sharing the stage at the United Auto Workers hall in Lincolnshire, Seals and Van Hollen stumped for a change in course in Iraq.
But it was the national chairman's presence that showed Democrats are intent on unseating Kirk.
"This is one (congressional race) where we're involved very early on," Van Hollen said. "It's not one of those 'we're wondering if it will emerge.' It has emerged as a priority race in the country."
Seals, a 36-year-old business consultant from Wilmette, gave Kirk a scare in 2006 when he gathered 47 percent of the vote with what he described as "almost no national backing." Democrats feel they'll benefit in November from a huge voter turn out.
The Democratic congressional group describes itself as being "aggressively on the offense" in targeting open congressional seats. Prime choices are districts where Republicans won by less than 10 percentage points or where presidential candidate John Kerry won in the 2004 general election.
Both apply to the 10th, a diverse district covering eastern Lake and northeastern Cook counties.
"This is only one of eight seats in the country that John Kerry carried in the previous election that has a Republican incumbent member of Congress," Van Hollen said.
The national party will support Seals in "every way," he said. Van Hollen did not divulge a specific strategy or dollar amount the party was planning to invest.
The Kirk camp took the development in stride and declined to discuss the coming campaign.
"In the last 10 years, only 13 of 195 (less than 7 percent) second-time challengers defeated their incumbent opponents," Eric Elk, Kirk's chief of staff said in a statement. "You learn a lot about someone when they run for public office, and history shows that rematches overwhelmingly aren't successful."
Kirk has been active in the district the past week or so.
He presented Waukegan police with an $850,000 federal grant to expand its anti-gang task force and called for action to prevent further declines in Great Lakes water levels.
On Thursday, he and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, his Democratic counterpart in the 8th District, held a news conference in Chicago saying the state budget falls $1.7 billion short of the local match needed for federal funds for key transportation projects.
Kirk was unopposed in the primary but issued a statement after it was clear Seals again would be his opponent.
"I am looking forward to a good debate," he wrote at the time, adding he was concentrating on issues within the district.
In any case, this race likely will be expensive, and Seals has some ground to make up.
As of Jan. 16, Kirk had nearly $1.8 million cash on hand compared to about $627,000 for Seals. Since then, Seals has raised about $90,000 and Kirk about $77,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.