If you thought 2017 was an interesting year politically, 2018 is forecast to be intense.
In 2018, all members of the US House of Representative are up for election. In Illinois, all statewide offices are up for election, along with all seats in the Illinois House and a portion of the Illinois Senate.
One seat that Democrats covet is the 13th District congressional district, currently held by Republican Rodney Davis. The district is was drawn to be a toss-up, and Democrats want to flip it.
Chris Mooney is political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He says while Democrats are energized for 2018, he says people shouldn’t count Davis out, because he serves his constituents.
“He’s done a really good job at it, he hasn’t had a serious challenger and whether he has a serious challenger remains to be seen,” Mooney said.
Statewide, Mooney says Governor Bruce Rauner and all statewide Republican candidates will face a hard election fight, since Illinois is a blue state and Democratic voters will be energized to vote after the 2016 election results.
Republicans made inroads in the General Assembly in 2016 … picking up enough seats to end the Democrats' veto-proof majority in the state house.
Mooney says the Republicans picked up competitive seats in 2016, but the task grows harder next year.
“They picked up the easy ones. Every new seat they pick up will be harder and harder,” Mooney said.
Mooney adds that Republicans still have a chance in Illinois, depending on the candidates they and the Democrats nominate in the March 2018 primary.