Special Elections In IL For Hastert's Vacated Congressional Seat

Chicago, IL (AHN) - The special election for the congressional seat vacated by former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert will be held on Saturday as scheduled. Turnout for what has been a contentious contest between the only two candidates in the race, Democratic newcomer Bill Foster and Republican Jim Oberweis, is expected to be low.

The latest in the bickering between Foster, a physicist with a doctorate from Harvard University, and Oberweis, a millionaire dairy businessman, is video footage showing Oberweis mocking the speech of his rival during a taping of NBC5's "City Desk" last week. "I'm so nervous," Oberweis said while pretending to stutter and with Hastert seated beside him.

"I was joking, if that's the case. It had nothing to do with Mr. Foster," Oberweis is quoted by NBC5 as saying on Friday, the same day Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) sent an email to supporters asking them to support "real change for Illinois" by voting for Foster.

"The Republican Party is spending more than one million dollars on this race, trying to keep Bill out of Washington because they know he represents a new kind of politics that will help diminish the power of special interests and put government back in the hands of the people," Obama's campaign said. "Despite the long odds, Bill is running neck and neck with his Republican opponent."

Foster earlier in the week launched a television ad featuring the Democratic presidential hopeful telling voters, "You may think you have to wait until November to vote for change, but here in Illinois you can start Saturday, March 8."

Oberweis is heading into the 14th Congressional District's special elections hounded by even more controversy. His dairy company sued the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for what he said were television ads that accused him of employing illegal immigrants. Oberweis Dairy is asking the court, among other things, to stop the ads with an injunction, but the DNCC has replied by complaining to the Federal Election Commission that the lawsuit refers several times to Oberweis' congressional bid, according to the Courier News.