Progress Illinois

Over the weekend, the Tribune offered a fairly helpful run-down of an issue that has left many Democrats scratching their heads in recent weeks -- the public disagreement between Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and State Sen. Debbie Halvorson over the proposed third airport in Chicago's south suburbs. While the article didn't delve deep into all the recent accusations, it did explain the basic disagreement:

Halvorson and Jackson agree a south suburban airport would be an economic engine for the region. But Jackson wants mayors from Cook, Will and Kankakee Counties to sit on an airport board. Halvorson trumpets "local control," shunning all Cook County representation.

More importantly, the Tribune reports on how Halvorson's GOP congressional opponent, Marty Ozinga, has been milking the intra-party spat: "trying to be all things to all sides":

[Ozinga] has seized on the conflict and appears to be trying to be all things to all sides. Ozinga said Friday he favors a revised version of Halvorson's airport plan and opposes Jackson's version, but also pushed Jackson's allegations about Rezko.

"When fellow Democrats are making serious allegations that Halvorson did Rezko's bidding, those allegations need to be taken seriously," Ozinga said.

Ozinga's fellow Republicans say they developed Halvorson's airport legislation, which is stalled in the House.

"I've spoken with [Ozinga's] office and basically outlined our process from June of '05 to the present, as I understand it, to make sure he's aware of how the legislation was developed," said Jim Roolf, who is a Republican and chairs the Will County Center for Economic Development business labor coalition.

Eleventh district congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson garnered an exciting endorsement today from J Street -- the first-ever political action committee dedicated to promoting federal candidates who support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Illinois House majority leader was one of seven candidates selected:

Halvorson believes that strong U.S. leadership is necessary to bring about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “so that other nations see us both as a leader and a partner,” and has been dismayed by current US saber rattling on Iran, favoring a renewed attempt at tough diplomatic engagement with Iran.

To learn more about J Street, check out profiles here, here and here.

Today, State Sen. Debbie Halvorson's congressional campaign released internal polling that bodes very well for her 11th District bid. According to the survey, conducted in May by Azalone-Liszt Research, she is 11 points ahead of her Republican rival, cement magnate Marty Ozinga. Here are some more details:

- Halvorson leads Martin Ozinga by a 43% to 32% margin, with Green Party candidate Jason Wallace at 6%.

- Halvorson still has excellent expansion potential. Among undecided voters (18%) Democrats lead the generic ballot 33% to 19%.

- In order to solidify and expand her support, Halvorson will need the resources to match Ozinga’s ability to self-fund his campaign. When voters hear basic information about both candidates, Halvorson’s vote expands seven points and she leads Ozinga 50% to 39%.

- Although this is a Republican-held seat, Democrats lead 42% to 36% on the generic ballot. Two-thirds (67%) of the district have no primary voting history with either party, and among these unaffiliated voters Democrats lead 44% to 33% on the generic ballot. Democrats also hold a 41% to 35% advantage in partisan self-identification.

In her bid for the congressional seat in Illinois' 11th District, State Sen. Debbie Halvorson has so far raised over $860,000, including $581,000 in the first quarter of 2008.

From a statement just released by her campaign:

Remarkable financial support continues to pour into the campaign of State Senator and Democratic Congressional Nominee Debbie Halvorson, who has raised an impressive $861,044 since announcing her candidacy in October with $681,943 cash on hand as of March 31. Halvorson is running in Illinois’ 11th Congressional District.

“The response to our campaign has been tremendous,” said Halvorson. “Middle class families are being hit from every angle, and they’re not being shy about their call for change. We’re offering them real solutions on job creation, health care, and making college more affordable.”

The campaign has received strong grassroots support, receiving contributions from over 1,300 individuals. From January 1, 2008 until March 31 2008, the campaign raised $581,106. Since the pre-primary FEC reporting on January 17, the campaign raised $433,670.

Stuart Rothenberg, editor of The Rothenberg Political Report, just unveiled his updated "Dangerous Dozen": the 12 "most vulnerable open House seats, starting with the most likely seats to flip." Illinois' 11th Congressional District clocks in at number one:

Illinois’ 11th: State Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D) would be a formidable nominee in any case, but Republican prospects weren’t helped when their primary winner, New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann, dropped out of the race. Local GOP leaders are expected to select businessman Martin Ozinga III to replace Baldermann as the party’s nominee. The district is competitive (President Bush carried it by 7 points in 2004).

Rothenberg highlights the 11th, along with NY-25 and VA-11, as "likely to go Democratic and ... in a class of their own." Congressional Quarterly concurs, listing the race as "Democrat Favored."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has released its list of targeted congressional races for 2008 and there are six in Illinois:

- IL-6: Incumbent Peter Roskam is one of the DCCC's "Targeted Republicans"

- IL-8: Incumbent Melissa Bean is one of the DCCC's "Frontline Democrats"

- IL-10: Incumbent Mark Kirk is a "Targeted Republican." Meanwhile, challenger Dan Seals is part of the DCCC's "Red to Blue" program.

- IL-11: Democratic candidate and State Sen. Debbie Halvorson is also on the "Red to Blue" list.

- IL-14: Bill Foster, who is filling out the rest of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's term after winning a March 8 special election, is one of the DCCC's "Frontline Democrats"

- IL-18: The DCCC describes this as a "competitive open seat" (current Rep. Ray Lahood is retiring). The Democratic candidate is Colleen Callahan.