They voted for the health care bill. With enough money behind the opposition, could they be voted out of office next year?

Republicans aim to find out with a new effort to raise campaign funds for challengers to two dozen House Democrats who voted for the health care bill earlier this month.

Reverse The Vote Victory Committee was established this week with the Federal Election Commission as a joint fundraising committee that will collect contributions to distribute among 24 GOP challengers.

It's still months until the first nominees will be formally selected in primary elections, so the committee for the time being will give campaign funds to 24 separate "congressional victory committees" that in turn will deliver the funds to party nominees once they are determined.

Chalk up another congressional endorsement for the frontrunner for the Democratic Senate nomination in Illinois, Alexi Giannoulias.

Over the weekend, Rep. Jan Schakowsky became the fifth member of the state's congressional delegation to back him.

"Alexi Giannoulias is the best candidate to retain President Obama's seat because he has the courage to take on powerful interests and stand up for Illinois families," Schakowsky said in a statement. "He supports health-insurance reform that will rein in the soaring costs of premiums and protect families from losing coverage during these difficult economic times."

Rep. Danny K. Davis has decided to run for an eighth term in in Congress instead of trying to become president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

Davis announced he was running for board president in June 2009, but also circulated nominating petitions for re-election to his House seat.

Davis filed for both races last week, but he announced Monday morning -- the final day to remove petitions under state law -- that he wanted to remain in Washington.

Dozens of House Democrats bucked their party on Saturday's health care vote. But how about those who might have taken a political risk by siding with their party?

Let's look at the Democrats from Republican-leaning districts who voted for the bill and Republicans from Democratic-friendly districts who opposed it.

Of the 49 House Democrats that represent districts that John McCain won in 2008, 18 of them voted for the bill.

State Rep. Julie Hamos is the first candidate to hit the airwaves in the open-seat contest for Rep. Mark Steven Kirk's seat.

Hamos, who is running in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary against marketing consultant Dan Seals, is putting up her first television advertisement Saturday in select parts of the district, according to her campaign.

Hamos must overcome the huge name identification advantage held by Seals, who was the party's nominee in 2006 and 2008.

Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., has filed paperwork to run for both Cook County Board President and for re-election in 2010, as the 2010 candidate filing deadline closed Monday at the Illinois Board of Elections.

Davis, who has said he will pick a race by the Nov. 9 deadline to withdraw petitions, was one of several candidates who filed to run for Congress in his district in the Feb. 2 primary by the Monday evening deadline.

Several Democrats who are interested in running for Davis' 7th District seat also filed, including a couple of elected officials: Chicago Alderwoman Sharon Dixon, Chicago Alderman Bob Fioretti, former state Rep. Annazette Collins, state Sen. Rickey Hendon, Cook County Recorder of Deeds Darlena Burnett and 2006 candidate Jim Ascot. If Davis runs for re-election, he is expected to keep his seat.

Monday's filings also showed every announced candidate for Senate submitted signatures for the race. Former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Robinson Jackson, a Democrat, was the last of the major candidates to file her signatures Monday. Her spokeswoman said Jackson wanted to ensure she was last on the ballot.

Democratic Senate candidate and former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman met with top White House adviser David Axelrod Thursday afternoon, according to Hoffman¹s campaign manager.

Hoffman, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Robinson Jackson are running for the Democratic nomination. Giannoulias, who polls show is the frontrunner for the nod, famously palled around with President Obama when they were lawmakers together in Illinois, but the president has indicated he will not endorse any candidate until after the Feb. 2 primary.

"The purpose of the meeting was for David Hoffman to have an opportunity to meet with David Axelrod and lay out the merits of his candidacy," said Hoffman campaign manager Michael Powell.

Illinois Democrat Danny K. Davis filed his petitions to run for Cook County Board President on Monday, but his office said he also will file for his 7th District seat at a later date.

Monday was the first day that Illinois candidates could file their petitions and the requisite numbers of signatures with the local elections department. Davis has until Nov. 9 to withdraw one of his petitions and pick a race.

Davis’ spokesman Ira Cohen confirmed in an e-mail that the lawmaker will also submit petitions to run for re-election to his current seat. “Yes, he will but the date is not yet determined,” Cohen said.

A well-placed source said that Davis was waiting to see which other candidates file for the Cook County Board race before he made a final decision. If some of the more prominent candidates have trouble getting enough signatures to run for the seat, then he is more likely to run for the county position.

In the race for Senate seat once held by President Obama, Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias raised $1.1 million in the third quarter and will report having $2.4 million in cash on hand at the end of September, according to a preliminary tally from the campaign obtained by Roll Call.

Available cash in the account of Giannoulias, a Democrat, is slightly more than what had been stockpiled by the likely GOP nominee, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, at the end of last month.

The race is expected to be particularly expensive because of the Chicago media market, and both parties' interest in targeting Obama's former seat.

A large Republican field is forming to oppose Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in Illinois' 14th District.

The latest entrant is state Sen. Randy Hultgren, who recently filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission and who formally announced his candidacy on Monday.

Hultgren served eight years in the Illinois House (1999-2007) and was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2006, replacing Republican Peter Roskam, who was elected to Congress from the 6th District.