Illinois Democrat Bill Foster, who was endorsed by presidential contender Barack Obama, won a special election held today to fill the House seat vacated by disgraced Republican Dennis Hastert. How big is this win? Hastert had held his seat for over two decades and the NRCC poured nearly 1/3 of their money into the race, and even Republican presidential nominee John McCain stumped for rival Jim Oberweis. On top of all that, Foster is a progressive Democrat and has come out strongly against telecom immunity:
"The President and his allies in Congress are playing politics with national security, and that's wrong. Nobody is above the law and telecom companies who engaged in illegal surveillance should be held accountable, not given retroactive immunity. I flatly oppose giving these companies an out for cooperating with Alberto Gonzalez on short-circuiting the FISA courts and the rule of law."
| U.S. House - District 14 - Special General | |
| Illinois - 558 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 98% |
| Name | Party | Votes | Vote % | |
 |
Foster , Bill | Dem | 50,451 | 52% |
| Oberweis , Jim | GOP | 45,741 | 48% |
Hastert served as Speaker of the House from 1999 till 2007 when the Democrats took control of Congress, but will be remembered most for his disgraceful behavior in covering for former Rep., Mark Foley, who was hitting on underage male pages while in office.
If a Democrat can win in a blood-red district like this, it bodes well for Democrats nationwide looking ahead in 2008.
