The rough-and-tumble of an open-seat congressional contest typically doesn’t start until after Labor Day, but the tug-of-war over southwest suburban voters who have to choose a successor to retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller has started early — and often.
In the past month, the campaigns of Democratic state Sen. Debbie Halvorson of Crete and Republican concrete magnate Martin Ozinga III of Homer Glen have traded barbs over political mail pieces each side claims was unfairly doctored. The national Democrats have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race. And a bitter dispute erupted over whether Ozinga should have stopped automated phone calls questioning Halvorson’s record as she tended to her injured military stepson at Walter Reed Medical Center.
All of it underscores the high stakes in the 11th Congressional District, which quickly and perhaps surprisingly has become one of the Chicago area’s hottest non-presidential races on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The district, which stretches from the far southwest suburbs to Kankakee and Bloomington, once seemed primed for a Democrat takeover: Republican Weller opted to retire amid controversy over his Nicaraguan land deals, and the GOP candidate trying to succeed him abruptly withdrew weeks after winning the Feb. 5 primary.
Republicans regrouped. They recruited wealthy political rookie Ozinga, who quickly narrowed the fundraising gap, and are attempting to show they won’t easily let go of a seat the party has held since 1995.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has noticed and responded, pouring more than $300,000 to boost Halvorson and attack Ozinga. The group has spent more money on the 11th District than just about any other congressional race in the country this season, Federal Election Commission records show.
“They’re obviously scared of Marty Ozinga,” said Will County GOP Chairman Richard Kavanagh. “It means that they think the seat that they thought was once theirs for the taking is now at best 50-50.”
Some of that national Democratic money was spent on a mail piece featuring Ozinga’s head superimposed over a body wearing a pinstriped suit and flicking a cigar. Another sent out late last week had Ozinga wearing a Hugh Hefner-style smoking jacket. The message: Ozinga, whose Web site is iamnotapolitician.com, is a fat cat who backs tax cuts for the wealthy and oil companies.
Ozinga campaign manager Andy Sere accused Halvorson of “hiding behind” the national Democrats and “letting them do her dirty work.”
Another flier flap involved an Ozinga mail piece in which a smiling family purportedly supporting his candidacy turned out to be a stock photo. The Democrats said the tactic was reminiscent of the unsuccessful 14th Congressional District campaign of Republican Jim Oberweis earlier this year.
Ozinga also found himself on the defensive for sending out automated messages on Aug. 12 that alleged Halvorson accepted thousands of dollars from oil companies and then voted against alternative fuels that would lower gas prices.
Only five days earlier, Halvorson’s stepson, Army Capt. Jay Bush, had been seriously injured fighting in Afghanistan. Ozinga’s campaign said it delivered a letter to Halvorson and her campaign calling for a truce. An Ozinga spokesman said the Halvorson team never responded.
Nonetheless, Halvorson’s campaign manager, Brian Doory, sent out a statement blasting Ozinga for being “so quick to break his word to gain political advantage” while Halvorson was at a D.C.-area hospital with her family.
Ozinga said he needed to defend himself against the multiple negative mail pieces that went out just days prior.
“We’re working hard to win the race, and we’re responding to their efforts to present criticism. And we need to respond,” Ozinga said. “But at the same time we’re trying to be sensitive and concerned as it relates to their families and issues.”
Now that Labor Day, the unofficial kick-off to campaign season, has passed, few expect the race to quiet down. The district’s voters already have seen mailers slamming Ozinga for his views on energy and health care and his support of President George W. Bush. Halvorson has been accused of downplaying her leadership role in the Illinois Senate to try to distance herself from the beleaguered Democratic governor, Rod Blagojevich.
The only thing certain in the 11th District is that printing shops stand to make some money.
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eslife@tribune.com
