Striking at the red heart
A bastion of Republican strength elects a Democrat
(THE ECONOMIST) — THE roots of Illinois's sprawling 14th congressional district are deepest red. Stretching from suburban Chicago almost as far as the Iowa border, the district is home to Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving House speaker in Republican history, and contains the closest thing to a Republican Nazareth, Ronald Reagan's boyhood town. With its cornfields and subdivisions, mega-malls and mega-churches, the district has long represented the Republicans' strength in middle America. Well, it did until last week.
Mr Hastert resigned from Congress last year. On March 8th Bill Foster, a Democrat, beat Jim Oberweis in a special election to replace him—and he won easily, 53% to 47%. The National Republican Congressional Committee had poured more than $1m into Mr Oberweis's campaign, while Democrats spent almost as much on Mr Foster. The Democrats declared that the win had sent “a political shock wave across America”.
Republicans grumble that one special election does not make a national trend. Besides, Mr Foster will have to run again in November, as the special election gives him the post only until the end of the year. But his victory should indeed worry conservatives.
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