Democrat Harper taking another shot at Biggert's seat
After a quick rise from political obscurity to campaign-fundraising dynamo, Scott Harper is ready for Round 2 against six-term U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert.
Harper, a Democrat from Lockport, will officially announce today his second attempt to unseat the Hinsdale Republican. After being courted to run again by Maryland Congressman and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, Harper said the decision to do so was made easier.
"I'm very excited to be working with the DCCC," he said. "We're trying to get our message out and sell our vision, and hopefully they'll be with us every step of the way."
The national party committee is not committing any staffing or financial resources to Harper's campaign, yet. However, they are targeting the race and 29 other congressional districts across the country where Republicans won House seats, but the majority of voters also went for President Barack Obama. Harper is the only returning Midwestern candidate in the targeted races, DCCC officials said.
"Scott proved his ability ro raise large sums of money and build grassroots support," said Gabby Adler, the DCCC's midwestern regional press secretary. "We are confident with more time, money and support Scott Harper will no doubt be a serious threat to Judy Biggert as voters realize times have changed, but their member of Congress has not."
Biggert's camp said they are ready for the fight.
"In a very strong year for Democrats in Illinois in 2008, Harper lost by 10 points after spending a lot of money on a 100 percent negative campaign against Biggert," said Kathy Lydon, a Biggert spokeswoman. "I think the voters know that electing Harper would just give Nancy Pelosi one more vote in the House for her spend-and-tax-and-borrow policies. "
Harper raised more than $1 million - mainly from individual contributions - during the last race and came up a little more than 33,300 votes shy of Biggert in a race where nearly 330,000 ballots were cast.
Biggert raised more than $1.4 million in 2008, with more than half coming from political action committees or special interest groups. She has already reached out to the GOP for additional support in 2010 after she announced a bid for a seventh term in May. Her campaign staff said the request for help from the national party is to warn Democrats she is ready to fight for the seat.
It meant something else to Harper.
"I took it as a compliment," he said.
He also poked Biggert for accepting more than $700,000 from committees during the last campaign, while he invested more of his own money than he received from special interest groups.
"I think it's a little embarassing for her to be getting so much of her money from special interests like that," he said.
He also attacked her "no" vote on the economic stimulus package.
"I thought that was wrong for the country and wrong for the district," he said. "It just seemed she wanted to make political points with her party. Party loyalty is trumping her own independent judgment, which is exactly the opposite type of representative I want to be for the district."
Harper believes he has a leg up in this race by not having to spend so much time introducing himself. Now he can push his message, which he said is focused on two top priorities of making the district a haven for "new energy technology like Silicon Valley is for computer technology" and promoting a "globally competitive education system" for the country like the ones in his district.
While both candidates consider themselves moderates, Harper's revamped Web site, scottharperforcongress.com, will feature a nearly five-minute long video that focuses on traditionally Republican themes of family and religion.
"Having been born and raised in Naperville, it's that ethic of community service and religion instilled in me by my parents," he said. "When I think if my two daughters that have grown up now, I want the best for them and I want to make a difference for our community and country."