GOP May Take 11 Of 19 Illinois House Seats
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UPDATED 11/3/10 9:17 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With Republican Joe Walsh's anticipated victory in his northwest suburban district, Republicans will likely hold 11 of the 19 seats in the Illinois congressional delegation.
GOP candidates defeated three incumbents and took the state's only open House seat, after businessman Robert Dold narrowly defeated three-time Democratic candidate Dan Seals. It is the first time in seven years that the GOP has held a majority in the Illinois delegation.
Dold, of Kenilworth, is the owner of a Rose Pest Solutions, a pest control company in the north suburbs.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday morning, Dold had 51 percent of the votes, compared with Seals' 49 percent.
The 10th Congressional District stretches north of Chicago. It has been largely Republican but had recently been trending Democratic.
Dold talked about his mission once he enters office on the CBS 2 Morning News Wednesday. He said his primary responsibility will be "trying to put the economy back on track and put people back to work."
Five-term Republican Congressman Mark Kirk gave up the seat and won President Barack Obama's old Senate seat on Tuesday.
Meantime, fueled by Tea Party support and a national anti-incumbency mood, Republicans also captured the seats held by Democratic Reps. Debbie Halvorson, Bill Foster, and Phil Hare.
The race has not been called for the 8th Congressional District in the northwest suburbs, but Walsh has declared victory against two-time incumbent Melissa Bean. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Walsh had 49 percent of the vote compared to Bean's 48 percent. Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer took the remaining 3 percent.
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Walsh ran his campaign according to the so-called "28 founding principles" of the United States, "not the least of which are limited government, free enterprise and the rule of law as established by our Constitution."
Government spending, gun rights, and curbing illegal immigration were among the major themes of his campaign.
In the last few weeks of the campaign, the Bean campaign began airing attack ads portraying Walsh as a right-wing extremist. The ad took Walsh to task for supporting concealed weapons, calling for a ban on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and calling for a ban on abortion without exception, including in cases of rape and incest.
Walsh took Bean to task for the ad in his own campaign video.
"Melissa Bean, you've got to be kidding me," he said. "Ten percent unemployment, foreclosures up throughout our district, people's entire savings wiped out, our economy is in tatters – and you attack me for my position on abortion?"
In the 14th District, physicist Bill Foster lost to Republican state Sen. Randy Hultgren. With all precincts reporting, Hultgren had 51 percent of the votes on Tuesday and Foster had about 45 percent. Green Party candidate Daniel Kairis took 4 percent.
The 14th District stretches west of Chicago from the Joliet area to western Illinois, and is heavily Republican. Foster had won the seat in a special election in 2008 after former House Speaker Dennis Hastert retired.
Before Foster's win in 2008, the seat had been held by a Republican for more than 70 years, so taking the seat back has been seen as a top priority by the GOP.
Attack ads flew back and forth between Foster and Hultgren throughout the campaign, and both national parties and interest groups dumped a lot of money into the race.
Hultgren regularly tied Foster to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a favorite target of tea party anger, and has painted him as too liberal for the district.
For his part, Foster has countered that Hultgren is one of the most conservative members of the state legislature and has noted his opposition to the cap-and-trade bill that is so unpopular with the right wing.
In the 11th District, Republican Adam Kinzinger has defeated first-term Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson.
With all precincts reporting, Kinzinger had about 57 percent of the vote and Halvorson had about 43 percent of the vote.
"I would like to be part of the freshman class that restores our Constitution and puts the government back in its place . . . a place that protects life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and then gets out of your way," Kinzinger said late Tuesday.
Kinzinger is an Air Force pilot who has received heavy backing from Tea Party activists and an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Halvorson, a former state senator, won her first term in the 11th District in 2008 after Rep. Jerry Weller retired amid ethics questions.
The district stretches south of Chicago to Bloomington.
Halvorson had touted tax breaks for businesses to help promote job creation and ramp up the economy. She also wants to close tax loopholes that make it cheaper for companies to leave the country.
At the same time, she also attacked Kinzinger as too young and inexperienced for the job and has claimed he would gut Social Security.
But Kinzinger has said he would not take away benefits from current retirees or those close to retiring. He is pushing for a commission to study how to keep Social Security solvent.
Kinzinger labeled Halvorson as a career politician who votes the party line.
In the 17th District, Hare has conceded to pizzeria owner Bobby Schilling, who was running for office for the first time. Schilling received heavy tea party support in the district, which covers a large portion of the state's western border.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting as of 10:46 p.m., Schilling was leading Hare 54 percent to 42 percent, with Green Party candidate Roger Davis at 5 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
