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July 25, 2006

Congressional Race Preview #9 - IL/NE

A battle royale is brewing in Illinois as the pet candidate of the Speaker of the House faces off with the pet candidate of the chair of the DCCC.

And two seats are in play in Nebraska, home to a revitalized state party.

Illinois 6 - Peter Roskam (R) vs Tammy Duckworth (D) - Roskam is the hand picked candidate of retiring Henry Hyde (of impeachment infamy) and Dennis Hastert. Many thought he would be handed this seat early on, until the entry of Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth is a very personable candidate and tireless in her campaigning, despite war injuries that led to amputation. When she talks about Iraq, people tend to listen. Still, this is a tough district, and there's always the chance the GOP will treat her like they did Max Cleland. Toss Up

Illinois 10 - Mark Kirk (R) vs Dan Seals (D) - Kirk hasn't faced a real race since 2000, but has one on his hands in this swing district this time. Seals has been compared to a young Barack Obama, and is putting together a strong, professional campaign. Win or lose, Seals is someone to watch out for in Illinois politics. Leans GOP

Illinois 11 - Jerry Weller (R) vs John Pavich (D) - The 2004 Democratic candidate was strong early on, then faded to the background. John Pavich, meanwhile, has managed to stay on the radar. Weller, though, is a strong campaigner and has many more resources. Leans GOP

Nebraska 1 - Jeff Fortenberry (R) vs Maxine Moul (D) - Fortenberry can be forgiven if he thought his tough open seat victory in 2004 would allow him to have a clean shot from here on out. If those thoughts were going through his head, he was mistaken. Former Lt Governor Maxine Moul is in this time and has the name recognition and resources to give Fortenberry fits. Her organization is building on the one that was put together in 2004, and she has a legitimate shot at this Lincoln area district. Toss Up

Nebraska 3 - Adrian Smith (R) vs Scott Kleeb (D) - Tom Osborne is leaving this seat, which he won routinely with 80 - 90 percent of the vote. Well, Smith is not the former coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Kleeb, a rancher in Western Nebraska, is a great fit for the district and has put together a stronger campaign thus far. The Democrats have a real opening in the reddest district in one of the reddest states in the country. Toss Up

Next up - Texas and Colorado. All Congressional Race Previews are cross posted at Swede And Czech

Posted by Alan at July 25, 2006 05:15 AM