This incumbent is yet another scientist who hails from a Congressional district in Illinois. He has a notable challenger who worked for TFG, and his district was weakened so that other districts could be shored up. That means it could be vulnerable to flipping if the political environment sours again. That is why Majority Savers is heading to Illinois’ 11th district to profile Rep. Bill Foster!
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Bill Foster for Illinois-11
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Candidate Background
Rep. Bill Foster is likely one of the most intelligent members of Congress right now. He has a science background, which is always useful when complicated issues arise. Here are some other tidbits about his background:
- His bachelor’s degree is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his PhD is from Harvard. In both cases he specialized in physics. His dissertation was about proton decay, of which I only very superficially understand.
- For 22 years, he worked at Fermilab in high-energy physics. He helped design machinery that led to the discovery of a type of quark, and also his discovery of a neutrino burst from the closest supernova in modern times in 1987.
- This is his second stint in Congress, as he won a 2008 special election when pedophile Speaker Dennis Hastert resigned. He lost in 2010, only to come back in 2012 and win a different seat.
Signature Issues
Rep. Bill Foster is a moderate to pragmatic liberal influence in the Democratic caucus. He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, which often is strong on social issues and moderate on economic issues. Foster votes for the Biden agenda nearly 100% of the time.
In terms of DW Nominate, Foster has a score of -0.23, which indicates a moderate voting record. He is more liberal than 53% of the entire House membership, while also being 93% more moderate than the Democratic caucus. This should serve him well in a more risky seat this decade.
Another note: his issues page is probably one of the best I have seen in terms of explaining exactly where he stands. You can tell he has a dissertation, because each position is carefully explained.
Health Care and Abortion: Foster is 100% pro-choice, and was aghast at the Dobbs decision like many people elsewhere. His ideas for fixing health care include providing a public option, expanded access to Medicare and Medicaid, and negotiating prescription drug prices to help lower costs.
Science and Technology: As expected, Foster is strong on these issues. He would devote more funding to scientific research, which he notes is behind other powers in the world as we’ve cut to the bone since 2008. He would reform the patent system, which has been abused by corporate powers.
Defending Democracy: Foster would increase funding for cyber security in the wake of unprecedented meddling in our elections. He would also pass needed dark money reforms and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. He was appalled by the 1/6 insurrection and these issues rose up.
Elections History
Recent Elections —
2020 President: Joe Biden (D) 56.6%, TFG (R-inc) 41.3%
2020 House: Bill Foster (D-inc) 63.3%, Rick Laib (R) 36.7%
2022 PVI: D+5
2022 Race Rating: Likely Democratic
This district used to be a GOP stronghold, just like many of the districts containing the suburbs of the Chicago metro area. There was a long stretch of time where the GOP incumbents basically went unchallenged because the district was so conservative. That changed with 2010 redistricting, when Illinois Democrats, which were just starting to become competitive in the suburbs, drew out Rep. Judy Biggert.
Rep. Bill Foster first came to Congress in a shocking special election to replace pedophile Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned after losing the House in 2006. He survived 2008 without a problem, but the 2010 red wave election washed him out of Congress and replaced him with Rep. Randy Hultgren. It appeared that Foster and his short Congressional career were finished.
The Democratic Party needed a sure recruit to take on Rep. Judy Biggert in 2012, because even though the district was heavily blue now, incumbents have a lot of power to stay in office. They turned to former Rep. Bill Foster to carry their standard once more, and Foster beat Biggert. That started his second stint in Congress, where he effectively won a safe seat. Now, his seat is more marginal because others needed shoring up.
Political Tour of the District
Rep. Bill Foster thoughtfully created a handy page on his campaign website to show the differences between the old and new districts. This new district takes in more exurban turf that is redder in nature. He may be targeted if a red wave ever develops this decade.
Here’s where this race will be won in the 6th district.
- Aurora and Naperville: This is the home base of Foster, and he will be counting on these areas to turnout for him and pad his score. They used to lean Republican, but that was a while back. Now, the cities produce a reliable Democratic vote.
- Geneva and Batavia: These exurbs have only recently turned to voting for Democratic candidates, and they have a longer history of voting for Republicans. Foster needs to keep these cities as close to 50-50 as possible and hope the voters don’t return to their prior pattern.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Northern Part of the District: This area of the district has some swingy areas, but most of it is rural and favors the GQP. Foster has represented much of this area before, but it has been awhile. He needs to reintroduce himself and find the willing voters in this area.
Activism — Help How You Can!
Rep. Bill Foster is fundraising like he is in a competitive race. In Quarter 2, he raised a great $784k for his re-election campaign. That should get him somewhere, even in Chicago. His opponent, the TFG advisor Catalina Lauf, only raised $210k for the same time period. Hopefully this funding disparity continues and dark money stays out of this race.
In terms of cash on hand, Foster has a massive war chest at his disposal. He has $4.93 MILLION to spend if he so desires. That’s likely due to fundraising over the last decade where he didn’t have competitive races. Lauf is really struggling, as she only has $26k to her campaign. If the 3rd Quarter results are similar, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a safe race. Foster needs donations to make it happen.
DONATE TO REP. BILL FOSTER HERE
Foster, just like any campaign, will need volunteers to ensure that his election goes smoothly. It is all about knocking on those doors, gathering those funds, and phone and text banking, and much more. Volunteer for his campaign at https://www.billfoster.com/volunteer, especially in the Chicago area. You won’t regret it if you have the time and energy to do so!
In terms of social media presence, he tends to stay quiet, at least on his Twitter campaign account. That account only has 2.6k followers, while his official account has around 50k followers. Here is what to expect from him when you follow him:
He also has a presence on Facebook at RepBillFoster and Instagram at foster4congress. Go ahead and see what there is to see on either platform!
As the second entry in the “Probably Safe Week”, Rep. Bill Foster likely doesn’t have to be too concerned with this race. However, even in the case of a wave election, some results go the other way and incumbents are caught napping instead of campaigning. I doubt this district will have that problem, but I want to be absolutely sure of it, hence the article today!
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Bill Foster for Illinois-11
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