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Aurora legislator to seek re-election; Democrat won't challenge Hastert
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| Contributor | ev |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Aug 09, 2007 11:28am |
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| Category | Press Release |
| News Date | Wednesday, August 8, 2007 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Breaking news folks.
Aurora legislator to seek re-election Democrat won't challenge Hastert
By John Biemer | Tribune staff reporter
August 7, 2007
State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat, announced Monday that she will seek another term in the state legislature—a decision that rules her out as a potential challenger for U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert's 14th District congressional seat.
Although Hastert (R-Ill.) got about 60 percent of the vote in defending his seat last year in an election that gave Democrats control of Congress and ended his run as House speaker, Democrats believe they have a solid chance to win there in 2008. That's due in part to changing demographics in the district—which begins on the western tip of DuPage County and stretches almost to Iowa .
Hastert is expected to announce whether he will run again in the next two to three weeks, spokeswoman Lulu Blacksmith said Monday.
Chapa LaVia, 40, a former Army officer first elected to the 83rd Legislative District in 2002, could have been a formidable challenger for the seat as a proven winner within the traditionally Republican congressional district. She more than doubled Republican Bob Mitchell's vote tally in winning re-election in 2006 in the 83rd, which is centered in Aurora . She had traveled to Washington to speak with officials in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee about a possible bid for Congress.
She did not rule out a future run for Congress, but cited her young daughters and her work for veterans in the state legislature as reasons to stay put for now.
"I am honored to do what I do and I think that at this point in history, I'm best needed where I am right now," said Chapa LaVia, a real estate broker and small-business owner.
Democratic candidates who already have lined up to vie for the 14th District seat include Hastert's 2006 opponent, John Laesch of Yorkville;Bill Foster, a Geneva businessman and scientist; and Jotham Stein, a Geneva attorney.
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