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United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2012


The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the 18 U.S. Representatives from the state, one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts, a loss of one seat following the 2010 United States Census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election. Primary elections were held on March 20, 2012.

A redistricting bill was introduced to the Illinois General Assembly by members of the Democratic Party in May 2011. Although Representatives are not required to live within their districts, the new map draws the homes of at least five Republican incumbents into districts where they will have to run against other Republicans, and others into districts which strongly favor Democrats.

After an amendment which modified the 13th and 15th districts was passed with Republican support, the new map was passed by the Illinois House of Representatives on May 30, 2011 and the Senate on May 31.Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, signed the map into law on June 24. Republican members of the congressional delegation planned to mount a legal challenge.

The 1st district, which has been represented by Democrat Bobby Rush since 1993, had seen a decline in population and so now extends into the Chicago suburbs and rural areas of Will County. Harold Bailey; Raymond Lodato; Rush; Clifford Russell Jr.; Jordan Sims, a political commentator for an online newspaper; and Fred Smith sought the Democratic nomination. Bobby Rush won the primary with over 80% of the vote.


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