Cegelis and Duckworth Kick it up a Notch

By Amy Hart in News on Feb 27, 2006 3:50PM

Sometimes Chicagoist likes to venture out to the burbs and remind ourselves that politics outside the city limits is just as exciting as it is the Land of Daley.

The heated contest for the retiring 6th District US Representative Henry Hyde's seat has reached fever pitch and turned into a nationally watched contest. As we mentioned a while back, Democrat Christine Cegelis was expected to be the frontrunner as she performed admirably against Hyde a couple years ago. But US Representative Rahm Emanuel, Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was dissatisfied with Cegelis' fundraising and recruited Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth to run against her.

After lots of national fanfare regarding her candidacy, Duckworth has a new campaign commercial featuring Senator Barack Obama referring to Duckworth as "a leader we can count on." Duckworth is also being endorsed by AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME, Illlinois Federation of Teachers, EMILY's List, and Citizen Action/Illinois.

But not all Dems are in Duckworth's corner. Cegelis recently received the endorsement of Democracy for America, a PAC started by Howard Dean. Cegelis has also received endorsements from such groups as IAM, Illinois Committee for Honest Government, Progressive Democrats of America, and NOW.

Meanwhile the other Democratic candidate, Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott, is in the background jumping up and down just trying to get noticed.

You can listen to an Eight Forty-Eight roundtable with Duckworth, Cegelis, and Scott online and read an intriguing profile of the race from In These Times. Chicagoist sees positives with both Duckworth and Cegelis, and we feel kind of bad for Cegelis being pushed aside by Emanuel. So, 6th Districters, what do you think?