Rep. Bill Foster declares victory over GOP challenger Catalina Lauf in 11th District contest
CHICAGO (CBS) – Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Foster declared victory over his Republican challenger Catalina Lauf in the race for the 11th Congressional District.
The AP called the race for Foster early Wednesday morning. With 95% of the vote in, he lead Lauf by a 55% to 44% margin.
The new 11th Congressional district spans several counties from the northwest to southwest suburbs. It stretches from Crystal Lake down as far south as parts of Naperville, Bolingbrook and Lemont.
Foster is a trained physicist who's spent 12 of the last 14 years as a member of the House of Representatives.
Lauf served as a special advisor in the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Trump Administration. She ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for the 14th Congressional District in 2020.
In a statement on Tuesday, Foster said, ""This victory belongs to everyone in the 11th District who voted to keep science and facts at the forefront of our policy debates in Washington DC, and I am so grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make this victory possible.
"Voters in the 11th District have spoken: the Republican party's agenda is far too extreme for Illinois. We need leaders who are focused on lowering costs for hardworking families, defending reproductive freedom, and keeping our communities safe from gun violence – not who work to divide us."
During his time in office, Foster has been a reliable vote for Democratic priorities and has emphasized the need for further public funding for scientific research. In an interview with CBS 2's Brad Edwards, Foster touted his experience working at Fermi National Accelerator Lab, located just outside of Batavia.
"I think the people there understand the value of having someone with real business background and real science background representing them in Congress," Foster said.
In her interview with CBS 2, Lauf attacked Foster and Democrats on their economic record amid record inflation and a tight labor market. She also made the argument against more experienced lawmakers in favor of new, younger candidates like her.
"Why has he been voting 100% with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi?" Lauf said. "That is destroying our economy. He's destroying small businesses. He's destroying medium-sized businesses, not to mention the rampant inflation that's impacting all Americans, and the labor shortages. So somebody like that, it shows to me that he's not very astute when it comes to the economy."
For the 2022 cycle, Congressional Democrats are facing major headwinds as Republicans are widely expected to retake at least one chamber by bashing the Biden Administration for the significant inflation and economic uncertainty. Foster has embraced Biden's characterization of the GOP as "MAGA Republicans," an attempt to paint them as extreme for a suburban electorate that's shifted in favor of Democrats in recent cycles.
According to an analysis by the Daily Kos, Biden won the new 11th District over Donald Trump by a 56% to 41% margin.
Another issue on which Foster and Lauf drew distinct differences on was American financial and military support of Ukraine which continues to ward of an invasion by Russia.
"The United States, I believe, has a special duty to stand up for Ukraine, because Ukraine was one of the only countries in the world that ever gave up nuclear weapons," Foster said, adding, "I believe this country has, and always should have, an obligation to stand with other free countries, to stand up in defense of freedom."
Lauf said if Republicans were to take back control of Congress, they would vote to "roll back" the billions of dollars in aid the U.S. has been sending to Ukraine.
"We will also, once we get in Congress, roll back the amount of money we've been sending, in billions of dollars worth of foreign aid when people here in our district are suffering," she said.