The Smokes Clears...



Cheri Bustos

The Freeport Journal Standard is reporting that Cheri Bustos beat out both of her democratic rivals by a commanding margin of 40 percentage points. She moves on to tackle incumbant Representative Bobby Schilling in the November General Election for Illinois' 17th Congressional District House seat.

"I’ve got plenty of energy for the road ahead,” said the East Moline resident, who won endorsements from both the Rockford Register Star's, as well as Emily's List.

Bustos, a Springfield native who has the strong support of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, said the Nov. 6 election will give voters a clear-cut decision between candidates with fundamentally different views.

Of that, there can be no doubt. Schilling's voting record "shows that his priorities are out of whack when he protects subsidies for big oil companies and corporations that ship jobs overseas, and turns around and votes against Medicare as we know it," Bustos said in a statement to the Quad City Times.

Following Tuesday's Primary Elections, the HuffPost is reporting that longtime U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo was the biggest-name casualty of Tuesday's primary races.

10-term Don's crushing defeat in Illinois' 16th Congressional District must have bruised his ego. Before throwing in the towel and making his concession speech, Manzullo demanded that fellow Republican Eric Cantor step down as the House Majority leader, as reported by The Hill.

Apparently Don has a problem with government officials picking winners and losers.

Especially if you're the loser picked.

Bill Foster

The Daily Herald is reporting that as a result of Tuesday's election, former democratic congressman Bill Foster will duke it out with incumbant Judy Biggert in the November General Election, for Illinois' 11th congressional district. The 11th CD encompasses Aurora and Joliet, as well as parts of Naperville.

Describing the upcoming fight, the veteran democrat said,

"People have had time to examine the ideas of the Republican Party and see they are a combination of the same bad policies that got us into these problems in the first place and disturbing new policies like changes to Medicare. And they don't like them."

Foster's confidence is high, in regards to a November victory over Biggert.

Iraq War vet, Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in service to her country overseas, won her primary race for the democratic nomination for Illinois' 8th Congressional District, which represents the northwest Chicago suburbs.

The Sun-Times is reporting that the former Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and President Obama's Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said, following her victory,

"We are on our way to take on Joe Walsh," said Duckworth, in a skirt that revealed her two prosthetic legs, one decorated in red, white and blue, the other wrapped in camouflage.

Dead-beat Dad, Congressman Joe Walsh, Duckworth's GOP rival, seemed more concerned about the black man living in the White House than he did about his democratic challenger:

“You have a district where people are out of work and she is partners with a president who just proposed a budget that never balances.”

Joe's own federal jobs plan is to require a Federal ID card for all voters, according to the HuffPost. No word from his campaign, though, on just how Walsh's plan will effect employment or balance the budget. Stay tuned for updates.