The day after upset victory, Bill Foster offers thanks
Congressman-elect travels 14th District to greet his new constituents
MARCH 10, 2008
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE) — Congressman-elect Bill Foster crisscrossed the 14th Congressional District on Sunday, stopping at buffets and cafes from Batavia to Dixon to thank voters as they dug into after-church piles of pancakes and bacon.
"Congratulations," Cathy DeHaven told the new congressman at the door of a packed Paul's Family Restaurant in Elgin.
DeHaven, 36, a lifelong Republican from Carpentersville, had been discussing the election with her husband, Gary, on the drive to the restaurant for their weekly Sunday brunch.
As Foster elbowed his way from table to table introducing himself as the district's fresh face in Washington, DeHaven waited for a seat and conceded she had voted for Republican candidate Jim Oberweis.
"I thought it was funny," she said of seeing Foster. "We were just saying how we felt bad for [former House Speaker Dennis] Hastert, giving up his seat and having a Democrat win it."
Gary DeHaven, 42, said the Republicans should have been allowed to appoint Hastert's interim replacement, but he allowed grudging respect for Foster's day-after tour of the sprawling district.
"It's expected of him," Gary DeHaven said.
Pausing during his own late breakfast with family and campaign workers at the Mill Race Inn along the Fox River in Geneva, Foster said Sunday was less of a victory lap around the district than the last opportunity he'll have to thank voters before heading to the nation's capital.
"A lot of our attention in the coming months is going to be directed toward Washington, D.C.," Foster said.
The night before, during his victory celebration, Foster took a call from presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, whose support included television commercials that some think may have helped sway voters.
"He said that I should enjoy the victory," Foster said. "I told him he had one more pledged superdelegate."