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Oberweis To Run For Hastert's Seat

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Aug 27, 2007 8:36 am US/Central

Oberweis To Run For Hastert's Seat

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NORTH AURORA, Ill. (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Jim Oberweis (File Photo)
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Wealthy Republican businessman Jim Oberweis announced Sunday that he's running for the U.S. House seat being vacated by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

At a rally outside his Oberweis Dairy, Oberweis said the Democratic-controlled Congress is out of touch with mainstream America.

Hastert announced last week that he won't run for re-election in the 14th Congressional District, which stretches from Chicago's far western suburbs all the way to the Mississippi River.

"Our next congressman will have to confront the challenges of growth in Kane County and Kendall County by working with local leaders on transportation initiatives," Oberweis said.

Oberweis, 61, lost a bid last year to be the Illinois GOP's nominee for governor, as well as two previous tries to be the party's nominee for U.S. senator.

He was widely criticized during the U.S. Senate primary in 2004 when one of his ads featured him in a helicopter flying over Soldier Field and claiming the stadium could be filled by the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country every week. He later called the commercial "too harsh."

Oberweis, who lives in the Kane County town of Sugar Grove, has pledged to spend $2.5 million of his own money in the congressional primary.

Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns already announced he's running in the Republican primary for the seat and issued a statement welcoming Oberweis into the race.

"Come election day, the voters will have a clear choice to elect an experienced leader who brings people together to get things done," Burns said.

State Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora has also expressed interest on the Republican side. Three Democrats have declared their candidacies for the seat.

The district has long been a Republican stronghold, with Hastert repeatedly easily winning re-election. In 2004, President Bush received 55 percent of the district's vote.