Our final look at competitive House contests, until Kansas, Michigan and Missouri file later this week, focuses on Barack Obama's home state, where Republicans have gotten some good news. The GOP, which once could have lost as many as four seats, looks well-positioned to defend most of their incumbents, though one open seat is still giving the party heartburn:

Illinois 06: Freshman Republican Peter Roskam won a narrow two-point victory in 2006 over Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth in the race to replace retiring Rep. Henry Hyde. This year, even though he represents a Republican-leaning district, Roskam is taking no chances, having raised $408,000 in the Second Quarter and retaining $1.21 million in the bank. He will face the former deputy director of the state Homeland Security Department, Jill Morgenthaler, who raised $202,000 and still had $231,000 in the bank. The suburban Sixth District could swing Democratic eventually, but Roskam looks well-positioned this year.

Illinois 08: Perpetual Republican target Melissa Bean, who has survived a number of well-funded GOP challengers, is no fundraising slouch, having raised $421,000 in the last three months while keeping $1.55 million in the bank. Bean will face Republican businessman Steve Greenberg, who raised $232,000 and kept $105,000 in the bank. Greenberg has expressed willingness to self-fund, though Bean beat back a GOP rival who wrote his own checks and outspent the incumbent in 2006. After beating longtime Rep. Phil Crane in 2004 in a district that encompasses the northeast corner of the state, Bean is starting to look like a long-term survivor.

Illinois 10: Speaking of perpetual targets, Republican Mark Kirk, whose Tenth District boarders Bean's to the south towards the Chicago suburbs, won't have an easy race for a long time. The four-term Republican raised a whopping $890,000 in the last quarter and still has $2.85 million on hand, a huge amount of cash that will come in handy in the expensive Second City media market. 2006 opponent Dan Seals, who came within six points of winning, has raised more this year than he did two years ago, and with $643,000 raised in the last three months and $1.17 million on hand, he's done well for a challenger. But a challenger who trails by a 2.5-to-1 margin still faces a tough fight.

Illinois 11: A T-shaped district stretching from Joliet, a Chicago suburb, to Bloomington in the middle of the state, Rep. Jerry Weller's retirement has given Democrats a reason to hope for another takeover. State Senator Debbie Halvorson has raised an impressive amount of money, pulling in $366,000 through the end of June and keeping $917,000 on hand. But businessman Martin Ozinga, who replaced the winner of the GOP primary, raised a stunning $810,000 last quarter and still has $670,000 on hand. Republicans, who looked unlucky, got a break with Ozinga, who could develop as a good candidate.

Illinois 14: Freshman Democrat Bill Foster, who won his seat in early March, will face a tough race in November against his defeated Republican foe, Jim Oberweis. Foster raised $518,000 in the Second Quarter, with $443,000 on hand, while Oberweis raised $233,000 and kept $547,000 on hand. Both candidates spent a lot of their own money on the special election, which can probably be expected again by November. In an only slightly GOP-leaning seat with Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, Foster is the favorite to keep his job for another two years.

Illinois 18: Republican Ray LaHood's retirement from his Peoria-based district opens up a reliably GOP seat that Democrats may still try to play in. Former television reporter Colleen Callahan, the Democratic nominee, is getting some Netroots attention, and she raised $139,000 to keep $155,000 on hand. While Republicans aren't worried about losing the seat, it's worth pointing out that State Rep. Aaron Schock, their party's nominee, would be just 27 years old when he takes office. Schock raised $407,000 in the Second Quarter and has $299,000 left to spend. LaHood told Politics Nation that he expects Obama to win his district, but Schock remains the front-runner down ballot.