IL-06
(Map)
IT businesswoman Christine Cegelis is presently embroiled in a competitive primary with a pro-life, Wheaton College professor named Lindy Scott and a centrist veteran named Tammy Duckworth, who supports the war in Iraq and defends Bush's illegal surveillance of US residents. Although Duckworth, who does not reside in the district, has received lavish support from DC lobbyists and the DCCC, Cegelis can still win the primary, as she has campaigned in the district for two years, building a Democrat infrastructure while engaging with voters in their homes and at local cafes. The March 21 primary is essentially a battle between centrist Democrats who are pro-war and pro-surveillence and progressive Democrats who desire social change and government accountability. Centrist Democrats with connections to lobbyists in Washington, DC, will do everything within their power to undermine Cegelis, as they fear the presence of another progressive in Congress who will serve as an independent voice for her suburban Chicago constituents. It is our job to send a signal to DC that we will not support the Party's attempts to undermine grassroots, progressive candidates in the name of moving the Democratic party to a nonexistent center.
Cegelis earned a remarkable 44.2% of the vote in the general election against incumbent Republican Representative Henry Hyde in 2004, and she will build on that support and beat her Republican opponent, Peter Roskam, in the general election for this open seat in November 2006.
