Democrat Foster to run for Congress again
Former Democratic Congressman Bill Foster plans to run again, this time in a newly proposed district that includes Aurora, as well as parts of Naperville and Lisle.
Foster “is expected to make an announcement Tuesday that he will be running in the congressional district containing Aurora,” according to the Foster campaign.
The Batavia Democrat filed paperwork declaring his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission Saturday. But he had formed a committee to fundraise for another run weeks ago, according to FEC records. Those records list his wife as his campaign treasurer.
Foster's new bid for Congress starts less than a year after he lost a bid for re-election to Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren of Winfield.
He served only one term, swept into Congress to serve from former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's district in the 2008 Democratic wave created by President Barack Obama's candidacy.
Now, Foster is eyeing a proposed new district that includes portions of the district now represented by Republican Reps. Judy Biggert and Adam Kinzinger.
The district Foster is targeting is part of the proposed congressional map that still could change in the coming days before state lawmakers are expected to approve it. Every 10 years, officials redraw political lines to account for population shifts.
Democrats control that process this year, and their inclination to draw districts to help Democrats get elected could help Foster head back to Washington, D.C.
Republicans, however, have assailed the proposed remaps as partisan and unfair to suburban voters.
The proposed district would include two of Illinois' biggest cities — Aurora and Joliet, along with parts of Naperville, Lisle and Plainfield.
Foster currently lives just north of the district line. Candidates for Congress do not have to live within the district they are running.
The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is eyeing Chicago's suburbs as one of the keys to its goal of winning seats lost in the last election.