Illinois Republican Henry W. Meers Jr., has filed paperwork to organize a campaign against first-term Democratic Rep. Debbie Halvorson in the 11th District south and west of Chicago.
Meers, a self-described conservative, is a real estate investor and a frequent donor to the Republican Party.
According to CQ MoneyLine, Meers has donated in recent years to the Republican National Committee and to former Rep. Jerry Weller, among other GOP organizations and candidates. He also gave to the 2004 Pennsylvania Senate campaign of then-Rep. Pat Toomey, a conservative who narrowly lost to Sen. Arlen Specter in a Republican primary, and to the 2008 New Mexico Senate campaign of then-Rep. Steve Pearce, who defeated the more moderate Rep. Heather A. Wilson in a primary but then lost decisively to Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in the general election.
Meers almost certainly will have company in the Republican primary election next February that will determine Halvorson's 2010 challenger.
Some local Republican activists are promoting Adam Kinzinger, a military pilot and Iraq War veteran who is a former board member in McLean County, which is at the southern end of the T-shaped district. Meers lives and is a GOP precinct committeeman in Will County, which is close to Chicago in the northeastern part of the 11th.
Illinois' 11th, which includes suburbs of Chicago and some rural areas far from the city, historically has had Republican leanings. President Bush won the district in the 2004 election by a margin of 53 percent to 46 percent over Democratic nominee John Kerry. In the 2008 election, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama essentially reversed that outcome by outpolling John McCain in the district by 53 percent to 45 percent, according to a CQ Politics analysis.
Halvorson won more decisively, winning by 58 percent to 34 percent over Republican businessman Marty Ozinga, whom GOP officials nominated after the original Republican nominee withdrew after the primary election.
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