Bill Foster Loses Seat To Republican Lawmaker
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CHICAGO (CBS/AP) - Republican State Rep. Randy Hultgren has defeated incumbent Democratic 14th District Congressman Bill Foster to take back a longtime GOP stronghold in the western suburbs.
With 76 percent of precincts reporting, Hultgren had 51 percent of the votes on Tuesday and Foster had about 45 percent.
The 14th district stretches west of Chicago and is heavily Republican.
Foster won the seat in a special election in 2008 after former House Speaker Dennis Hastert retired after two decades.
Hultgren is an investment adviser. He was a state representative for nearly a decade before serving in the state Senate.
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 have flown back and forth between Foster and Hultgren throughout the campaign and both national parties and interest groups have dumped a lot of money into the race.
Hultgren has 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.
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