More Election News

• OK: Fallin Wins GOP Nod
• OH: Dems Nervously Eye Fisher's Troubles
• OK-5: Runoff in the GOP Primary for Rep. Fallin's Seat
• CA: Fiorina Has Yet to Tap Wealth in General Election
• MD: Differing Strategies but No Separation in Governor's Race
• VA: Democrats Hope Fund-Raising Leads Will Pay Off in November
• CO: Romanoff Sells Home to Finance Senate Bid
• NY-23: Expect Another Three-Way Race
• TX: Border Sheriffs Split on Governor's Race
• MN: Entenza Puts $3.6M Into Race
• PA-3: For Dahlkemper, Democratic Leaders Dig Deep
• FL: Rubio-Crist Fight Shifts to Health Care
• WA: GOP Puts Murray on Defensive Over Federal Projects

The Eleventh Congressional District is an irregularly-shaped slice of downstate Illinois and exurban Chicago, cutting across the state from Indiana almost to Iowa, with a salient extending down into Bloomington. It is marginal political territory, casting its votes for Barack Obama and George W. Bush at almost exactly their national average.

The Representative from the Eleventh is former state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson. Halvorson won a landslide 58%-34% win in 2008 after Representative Jerry Weller decided to retire in the face of scandal. Halvorson has supported most of the Obama Administration's major initiatives, including the stimulus, cap-and-trade, and the health care bill. Halvorson will face off against ex-McLean County (Bloomington) Commissioner Adam Kinzinger, who has managed to raise about half of what the incumbent has raised. There has been a fair amount of polling in the district, none of which is good for Halvorson. We Ask America showed her trailing Kinzinger 42%-30%, while the Republican polling outfit Public Opinion Strategies shows her trailing at 44%-38%. These are rough numbers for an incumbent, and RCP starts the race off as Leaning Republican.