Republican John Shimkus of Collinsville is seeking re-election for an eleventh term to Congress. His district spans 33 counties in downstate Illinois -- ranging from the St. Louis metro area to the west, to the Indiana border, as far north as Rantoul, and all the way to the Illinois-Kentucky state line.
Shimkus's challenger in the March 15th Republican primary is state senator Kyle McCarter of Lebanon. One of the issues McCarter has raised in this race is Shimkus's vote for the budget omnibus bill in December that avoided a government shutdown.
McCarter claims that vote authorized federal funding for Planned Parenthood and says he would have voted against it. Illinois Public Radio's Brian Moline talked with Congressman Shimkus about the campaign and that December budget vote.