The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois was held on Tuesday, November 6, to elect the 18 U.S. representatives from the state, one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts, a loss of one seat following the 2010 United States census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election. Primary elections were held on March 20, 2012.
Republicans struggled after a strong showing in 2010, losing a total of five seats, one via redistricting, and four via losses by incumbents. Joe Walsh, Bob Dold, Judy Biggert, and Bobby Schilling were all defeated in their bids for re-election. Walsh, Dold, and Schilling had all been elected during the wave year of 2010.
A redistricting bill was introduced to the Illinois General Assembly by members of the Democratic Party in May 2011. Although Representatives are not required to live within their districts, the new map drew the homes of at least five Republican incumbents into districts where they would have to run against other Republicans, and others into districts which strongly favor Democrats.
After an amendment which modified the 13th and 15th districts was passed with Republican support, the new map was passed by the Illinois House of Representatives on May 30, 2011 and the Senate on May 31. Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, signed the map into law on June 24. Republican members of the congressional delegation planned to mount a legal challenge.
The 1st district, which had been represented by Democrat Bobby Rush since 1993, had seen a decline in population and so now extends into the Chicago suburbs and rural areas of Will County.
The new 2nd district stretches from Kankakee County, through Will County and to Chicago. Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr., who had represented the 2nd district since 1999, sought re-election.
Republican Adam Kinzinger, who was first elected to represent the 11th district in 2010 and now lives in the 2nd district, sought re-election in the 16th district.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. resigned his seat in the 112th Congress on November 21, 2012, and also resigned his seat in the 113th Congress on the same day. As a result, no one was seated in the 113th Congress for the 2nd congressional district, and a special election was called for April, 2013, to fill the vacancy.
The 3rd district, which had been represented by Democrat Dan Lipinski since 2005, now extends to Bridgeport, Chicago and Lockport, Will County. Lipinski sought re-election.
Insurance executive and health care activist John Atkinson was expected to challenge incumbent Lipinski, and raised over $535,000 in the first quarter of 2011, but no longer lives in Lipinski's district. Atkinson had considered instead running in the 11th district, but suspended his campaign on June 14, 2011.
The 4th district, which had been represented by Democrat Luis Gutiérrez since 1993, was extended to incorporate Gutiérrez's new home in Portage Park.
Héctor Concepción, a former director of the Puerto Rican chamber of commerce, had been removed from the ballot by the Illinois Board of Elections in January 2012, but subsequently refiled and challenged Gutiérrez as the Republican nominee in the general election.
The 5th district, which had been represented by Democrat Mike Quigley since 2009, was redrawn to include Franklin Park, Elmwood Park, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, River Grove, Schiller Park and parts of Melrose Park, Stone Park and the North Side of Chicago. Quigley sought re-election.
The 6th district, a DuPage Republican Votesink, which had been represented by Republican Peter Roskam since 2007, is one of two Chicagoland districts which were expected to remain strongly favorable to Republicans, although it has been redrawn to include Algonquin, Barrington, Cary, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Lake in the Hills, Lake Zurich, Palatine, South Elgin, West Chicago, Westmont and Wheaton.
Khizar Jafri, a traffic analyst, ran as an Independent.
The 7th district, which had been represented by Democrat Danny K. Davis since 1997, was redrawn to include parts of LaGrange Park and Westchester. Davis sought re-election.
Republican Joe Walsh, who was first elected to represent the 8th district in 2010, ran for re-election despite no longer living within the redrawn boundaries of the district. Walsh had initially decided to run in the redrawn 14th district.
Walsh defeated write-in candidate Robert Canfield, a business owner who had planned to challenge him in the Republican primary before being removed from the ballot by the Illinois Board of Elections.
Walsh and Duckworth scheduled four debates. The first was held on May 12, 2012, on CLTV, the second on September 14 in West Dundee at Heritage Fest, and the third on October 9 on WCPT and WIND at the Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows, open to 8th district residents. The fourth was held on October 18 on WTTW's Chicago Tonight.
Democrat Jan Schakowsky, who had represented the 9th district since 1999, sought re-election.
Robert Dold, who was first elected to represent the 10th district in 2010, lives in the new 9th district, but sought re-election in the 10th.
Bob Dold, who was first elected to represent the 10th district in 2010, sought re-election. Dold no longer lives in the redrawn district, but would have cmoved into the district if he won re-election.
The newly drawn 11th district is the successor to the old 13th district, which had been represented by Republican Judy Biggert since 1999. While the reconfigured district contains half of Biggert's former territory, it was made significantly more Democratic than before. It now includes the Democratic-leaning areas of Joliet and Aurora. Biggert's home in Hinsdale was drawn into the 6th district, but she sought reelection in this district.
Biggert won the primary against nominal write-in opposition from Harris.
Democrat Jerry Costello, who had represented the 12th district since 1988, decided to retire rather than run for re-election.
Miller ended his campaign in February 2012 and endorsed Harriman (but remained on the primary ballot).
In May 2012, Harriman dropped out of the race because of an illness. This left the decision of whom to name as a replacement candidate up to a committee that included the 12 Democratic county chairmen in the district and Rep. Costello. The committee unanimously selected Major General (ret.) and Adjutant General of Illinois William Enyart as the replacement nominee on June 23.
Paula Bradshaw, a registered nurse, ran as the Green Party nominee.
Retha Daugherty, a small-business owner and resident of Carbondale, had announced her intentions to be on the ballot as an independent candidate, but had to drop her bid in April 2012 because of a change in state election law.
The new 13th is the successor to the old 15th district, represented by Republican Tim Johnson since 2001.
Although Johnson won the primary, in April 2012, he chose to retire rather than seek re-election. A convention was held on May 19, 2012, to choose a replacement nominee. The 14 GOP county chairmen in the district unanimously selected Rodney Davis as the party nominee.
John Hartman, a medical technology company CFO, ran as an independent candidate.
With Jerry Clarke<br />
With Generic Democratic<br />
The redrawn 14th district includes McHenry County and parts of DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, and Will counties. The new 14th district remained one of the two Safe GOP seats in the Chicagoland area, alongside the 6th. Republican Randy Hultgren, who was first elected to represent the 14th district in 2010, ran for re-election.
Bill Foster, a Democrat who represented the 14th district from 2008 until 2011, decided to run in the 11th district in 2012, although some Illinois General Assembly leaders had hoped he would run in the 14th district, where his home is located.
Republican John Shimkus, who had represented the now-obsolete 19th district since 2003 and represented the 20th district (eliminated after redistricting following the 2000 census) from 1997 until 2003, sought re-election in the new 15th district.
In redistricting, the 16th district was moved south to incorporate Livingston and Iroquois counties and parts of Ford County. Republican U.S. Representatives Adam Kinzinger, who had represented the 11th district since January 2011, and Don Manzullo, who had represented the 16th district since 1993, sought re-election in the new 16th district.
Bronco Bojovic, a businessman, had planned to run as an Independent candidate but dropped out of the race in February 2012.
The 17th district, based in Rock Island and Moline, was extended to include most of Rockford and the more Democratic areas of Peoria and Tazewell County, thereby making it more favorable to Democrats. Republican Bobby Schilling, who had represented the district since January 2011, ran for re-election.
Republican Aaron Schock, who had represented the 18th district since 2009, ran for and won re-election. The district was one of two which were expected to remain strongly favorable to Republicans. Peoria's more Democratic southern portion was shifted to the 17th district, and was replaced by the heavily Republican Bloomington-Normal and Quincy areas.