Lots of reasons Republicans lost what should've been an easy district to hold, but I think this is definitely one of them:

Kane County GOP Chairman Michael Kenyon said a Saturday election might have kept people away, but he also was critical of the campaigns both candidates ran. He suggested that there was too much negative campaigning on both sides, and too many automated calls to people's homes.

"I got called by Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Foster, Denny Hastert, the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee), and Jim Oberweis himself," Kenyon said. "I told them all I voted the first day of early voting."

Um, Michael? Barack didn't call you. Neither did Michelle. Or Foster. When the county chairman of the biggest county in the district thinks he's talking to a live person at the other end of a robo call, you've got some serious problems.

Race tracker wiki: IL-14

When Martin Meehan (D-MA) resigned his House seat in 2007 to serve as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Niki Tsongas, widow of the late U.S. Senator, Congressman, and all-around good guy, Paul Tsongas, ran for the vacant seat in a special election.  To place this in its proper context, Democrats have controlled the economically-challenged Massachusetts’ 5th District for thirty-some years.  When Mrs. Tsongas managed only a bare majority (51% of the vote) over Jim Ogonowski, her Republican opponent, the GOP and their bought-and-paid-for media hacks hailed this as a huge "victory" in deep-Blue territory, a sign of an impending Republican comeback, and a small step towards their "inevitable permanent majority."   So, was it really raining, or were they just pissing on our legs?

Democrat Bill Foster’s victory over Republican Jim Oberweis in Saturday’s special election in Illinois is evidence of the clamor for change in the countryside?  Perhaps.

Are exurban Chicagoans disgusted with Washington?  Yes, they are.

But there were some uniquely local factors that were more decisive.  

Read the attached poem I wrote, to find out why I still support Jim Oberweis

I am neither intimidated, nor impressed, by any candidate who slaps up a list of endorsements by (primarily Jewish liberal) scientists, whose only knowledge of the 14th congressional district is of the existence of Fermilab.

If you think that Democrats have taken IL-14, you'll have to think again.  I have only just begun to fight.

Illegal immigration must be stopped.  It's hurting my people.  And the borders must be secured.

See y'all in November.

I'm a precinct committeeman in Downers Grove Township, Dupage County IL (IL-13). I bumped this up from the comments I made on bored now's excellent diary on the race at yinn's suggestion.

I worked on Bill Foster's campaign for the last three weeks. Below are some of my impressions from this great campaign:

This is a big deal.

I don’t intend to be a frequent diarist or commenter, I will never use the word "Breaking" in a title, I will not comment on polls, Rush, or Fox and I will militate against providing links – for factual verification, start with Wikipedia, work outbound from there. These are simply my thoughts; do with them as you will.

first of all, congratulations to bill foster, our newest member of congress.  it will be kind of weird calling him congressman.  and congratulations to his staff and all the volunteers who helped elect foster.  what a tremendous achievement!

foster's election is vindication of all those who believed that a serious democratic candidate with a great campaign organization could turn il-14 blue.  and now we have!  it is also vindication for the plan that bill and tom put together, and especially the networking they did to create a solid pool of campaign workers who went out and delivered the vote for foster.  this should serve as both proof of what a good campaign can do and an example for the local democratic parties and their future candidates.

it's probably too early to really dissect how bill foster won denny hastert's open seat but we can put some things into context.

I commented this in an IL-14 thread yesterday, but people seemed unaware of the facts. Yes, John Laesch, the unsuccessful 2006 Democratic nominee for IL-14, lost the Feb.5 primaries for the special election and the general election. Yes, he lost the latter primary by only 400 votes. No, he's not packing it in and letting now-Congressman Bill Foster carry the Democratic banner. From the Courier News:

Well, it's obvious that we should all be glad about Foster defeating Oberweis in yesterday's special election for the 14th district of Illinois.  However, if you think about it's even better than it looks on the face of it.  So let me just enumerate some reasons why it's great so we can wallow in our joy.

• He won Dennis Hasert's seat
• He won a seat that the Republicans have held for twenty years
• He won by campaigning as a hardcore progressive
• He won by being against the war
• He added even more proof to the merit of the 50 State Strategy
• It shows the power of Obama’s coattails
• It shows that McCain’s coattails suck
• Obama probably gets a super delegate out of it
• The NRCC spent a 20 percent of their money just to look stupid and weak
• I just plain can’t stand Jim Oberweis

I have a lot more reasons under the fold.

The 1980 election which ushered Ronald Reagan into the White House had a considerable coattail effect.

Reagan's coattails refers to the influence of Ronald Reagan's popularity in elections other than his own, after the American political expression to "ride in on another's coattails." Chiefly, it refers to the "Reagan Revolution" accompanying his 1980 election to the U.S. Presidency. This victory was accompanied by the change of 12 seats in the U.S. Senate from Democratic to Republican hands, producing a Republican majority in the Senate for the first time since 1954.

In light of yesterdays IL-14 special election, where Bill Foster defeated Jim Oberweis handily for Dennis Hastert's old seat, we should take note that a democratic candidate should bring about similar victories in the general election. Now IL-14 is heavy republican district that Bush won 55% to 44%.

More Below the fold...

Bill Foster is going to Washington. Foster defeated perennial Republican candidate Jim Oberweis to win a seat in Congress in 14th Congressional District of Illinois. Foster and Oberweis will face off again in November as they vie for a full two-year term. Oberweis has lost six races in the last six years and likely will lose his fifth race in November.

Oberweis has now spent nearly $9 million of his own money on six elections the last six years and still does not hold elected office. The investment manager is better known for his family's home-delivered milk and ice cream shops but could not translate that profile to victory.

"I am disappointed we've come out second," said Oberweis, who then thanked his wife, Julie, and had the crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to her. "We've made some great friends and we're going to have another run in about seven months."

I have a question about IL-14 that seems like a very obvious question to raise, but I haven't seen anyone mention it yet.

Why on earth is the NRCC, woefully underfunded and going through an appalling financial scandal that will make fundraising even harder going forward, dumping $1.3 million, almost a third of their cash, into a single congressional campaign on behalf of Jim Oberweis, whose only positive asset to recommend him is the fact that he is RICH ENOUGH TO SELF-FUND????

If this is what we're facing in November, we are so in.

Is it possible President Bush used his Saturday address to win Illinois' 14th Congressional district for Republican Jim Oberweis?  He was going for the silent pro-torture majority.  How could he suspect there was not a pro-torture electoral majority in the District?  This was the trial balloon for Vote Republican - The Torture Party.  I guess this branding effort may need to be retooled.

Van Hollen on Foster's win:

"It is a stunning rejection of the Bush Administration, its Republican allies, and presidential nominee John McCain," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen in a statement.

Update:  The full statement, via email:

"Congratulations to Bill Foster on his victory tonight. Bill Foster’s victory in the seat that was held by Speaker Hastert sends a political shock wave across America this election year. It is a stunning rejection of the Bush Administration, its Republican allies, and presidential nominee John McCain. Republican candidates learned tonight that Senator McCain, who campaigned with the Republican nominee, cannot save them from defeat this November against strong Democratic challengers, even in districts that voted overwhelmingly for President Bush.

"Despite spending 20 percent of the their cash on hand, the NRCC was unable to hold a seat easily won by President Bush and held by Speaker Hastert for 20 years.  Americans of all political stripes are rejecting Republicans’ divisive, status quo politics and turning to Democratic candidates for change.  I am   grateful to Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Barack Obama, and the Illinois Democratic delegation and candidates for encouraging the people of this district to vote for change by supporting Bill Foster.

"Voters of all political stripes responded to Bill Foster’s commitment to change. With his unique background as a respected scientist and a successful businessman, Bill Foster will be a tremendous asset to our Democratic Caucus, as we continue fighting to strengthen our economy and ease the squeeze on America’s struggling middle class families."

Race tracker wiki: IL-14

Somewhere in the great beyond, there's a big smile tonight on Tim Hall's face.

Who's Tim Hall? Find out on the jump.

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This is a continuation of dmsilev's IL-14 special election liveblog.  As he says:

Remember, this is Dennis Hastert's old district, with Democrat Bill Foster running against all-around-jerk Jim Oberweis. Jim Oberweis is best noted as the person who was passed over in favor of Alan Keyes in the 2004 Senate race.

As a lot of you know, Illinois 14th is holding a special election today between Bill Foster(D) and Jim Oberweis(R).  

This from the Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago Newspaper) alarmed me:

Justin Major, a voter protection lawyer for the Foster campaign, observed that the word "Republican" flashed on a touch-screen voting booth at Pioneer School at 615 Kenwood in West Chicago as though it was a primary election.

Major said the same problem was reported to him by election judges at St. Andrew's Country Club on Route 59 in West Chicago, at Faith Community Church at 910 Main St. in West Chicago, and at Wegner School, 1180 Marcella Lane in West Chicago.

In one precinct, election judges had placed masking tape on the screen to hide the word Republican.

http://www.dailyherald.com/...

For those who don't know, Du Page County is notoriously red, and uses Diebold machines.  The western portion of Du Page is in the 14th district.