U.S. Congressman Bill Enyart
The race between incumbent Democrat Bill Enyart and Republican challenger Mike Bost in the 12th Illinois Congressional District, stretching from the Metro East to Illinois' southeast border, is gaining national attention. Republicans consider it a race that can be won by the GOP for the first time since World War II. The race was labeled a toss-up in August, with Real Clear Politics now predicting that it is “leaning Democratic." But Democrats aren’t taking the House seat for granted and are pouring millions into TV ads.
Among those ads is a resurfaced video of Bost on the floor of the Illinois House in 2012. In the video, Bost yells and swings at a stack of papers during a moment of frustration. At one point, he screams “I feel like somebody trying to be released from Egypt. Let my people go!”
He says his rant was launched after House members were handed a 200-page bill to consider without having any time to read or study. “That's not normally the kind of thing I would do," says Bost, a former Marine, a firefighter, and a small-business owner. He's not apologetic, though, and says the episode could help him win votes in downstate Illinois.
The ad contains the line "Mike Bost would make Washington worse. Enyart, an Air Force veteran and head of the Illinois National Guard, says, “Taking that kind of attitude to Washington, D.C., is taking a can of gasoline to a fire.”
At the same time, the National Republican Congressional Committee is sponsoring an ad that is critical of Enyart’s voting record, claiming he has supported House minority leader Nancy Pelosi 90 percent of the time.
In the meantime, Republican hopes for winning the Illinois governor’s race seem to be fading. A Tribune poll from last weekend shows Gov. Pat Quinn leading his challenger by 11 points, 48–37. It's the largest lead of any poll that's been taken, leading some Republicans to call it an “outlier.”
