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IL 17: Evans, Citing Battle With Parkinson’s, Says He’s Retiring
CQPolitics ^ | 3/28/06 | Greg Giroux

Posted on 03/28/2006 4:02:17 PM PST by LdSentinal

Illinois Democratic Rep. Lane Evans said Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his current 12th House term, attributing his decision to the Parkinson’s disease he has been battling for more than a decade.

Though Evans has long been physically slowed by the ailment, which impairs nerve cells in the brain, his decision to terminate his re-election bid was a surprise — if only because of the timing. In the Illinois primary just one week earlier, Evans won renomination in the western 17th District without opposition. Evans’ re-election campaign held a fundraiser just last Saturday, though Evans was unable to attend.

Democratic officials, under state law, will soon pick a nominee to replace the 54-year-old Evans on the November ballot. But because of the uncertainty caused by Evans’ withdrawal, CQPolitics.com is changing its rating on the 17th District race, at least temporarily, to Leans Democratic from Safe Democratic.

Evans, who fought off serious Republican challenges during the 1990s, benefitted from a bipartisan, pro-incumbent redistricting plan implemented in Illinois before the 2002 elections.

His former district combined Democratic-leaning industrial cities along the Mississippi River, such as Rock Island and Moline, with Republican-leaning rural areas; the revised district reaches out long fingers to take in additional Democratic voters in parts of Springfield and Decatur.

Still, Evans’ personal popularity was also a key ingredient in the easy victories he scored in his past two elections. While Evans racked up 61 percent of the vote in 2004, Democrat John Kerry edged President Bush in the 17th with 51 percent.

The Democratic Party, nonetheless, could re-emerge as a solid favorite to retain this seat — if they manage to recruit a strong candidate to replace Evans.

One potential candidate is Democratic state Sen. Mike Jacobs. He acknowledged receiving numerous calls and messages of support in and outside Illinois, but said it was “too early” to begin speculating about a campaign.

“I’m not at all thinking about the future. I’m thinking about the past day and what the congressman meant to me personally,” Jacobs told CQPolitics.com. He also said that Evans “ought to have some say in who replaces him.”

Republican officials, anticipating another re-election bid by Evans, made no special effort to recruit a top-flight challenger to run against him this year. And in the March 21 primary, 17th District Republican voters narrowly renominated local television personality Andrea Lane Zinga, who took just 39 percent against Evans as the 2004 GOP nominee.

But Zinga will have a higher profile now that the popular Evans will not be defending his seat. “I wish Congressman Evans the very best in his retirement, and I want to take this opportunity to recognize his many years of able service to his country, as a veteran and as a public servant,” Zinga said in a statement. “I will continue to work actively to visit and speak with the people of the 17th District, discussing the issues.”

Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, described the 17th as a “swing district that is trending Republican.” He added that Zinga has high name recognition and “knows the district better than anyone.”

“If she puts together a good team, has a strong local message and raises the money to project the message, this race becomes one of the most competitive in the country,” Collegio said.

Evans established his political dominance in the 17th with a platform that emphasized economic populism and issues affecting veterans. Evans, who served in the Marine Corps, now is the ranking Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Evans first publicly announced that he had Parkinson’s in May 1998, though he received the initial diagnosis three years earlier.

“When I announced in 1998 that I had Parkinson’s disease, my doctor said that this condition would not interfere with my work and that I would be able to perform at a high level for a number of years,” Evans said in a statement released Tuesday. “That window of opportunity is now closing.”

“I fully expected that I would continue my work for the foreseeable future following this current break from the office,” the congressman said. “But I have come to recognize that the time needed to address my health makes it difficult to wage a campaign and carry out my work as representative.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: 2006; election; evans; house; race; zinga

1 posted on 03/28/2006 4:02:24 PM PST by LdSentinal
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To: LdSentinal

Hopefully the Dems will appoint some loser.

This is at least a ray of hope in that district.


2 posted on 03/28/2006 4:05:35 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: LdSentinal
benefitted from a bipartisan, pro-incumbent redistricting plan implemented in Illinois before the 2002 elections.

I thought Republicans were the only ones who gerrymandered.

3 posted on 03/28/2006 4:06:11 PM PST by My2Cents ("The essence of American journalism is vulgarity divested of truth." -- Winston Churchill)
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To: Dog Gone
Illinois Democratic Rep. Lane Evans said Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his current 12th House term, attributing his decision to the Parkinson’s disease he has been battling for more than a decade.

Bush's fault. If he had allowed the full funding broadened lines for stem cell research, we'd have a cure for Parkinson's. Oh, yeah....and Christopher Reeve would be alive, walking, and grieving the loss of his wife.

/sarcasm

4 posted on 03/28/2006 4:12:15 PM PST by edpc
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To: LdSentinal; Kuksool; fieldmarshaldj; AuH2ORepublican; Dan from Michigan; ...

The likely Democrat nominee will be state Senator Mike Jacobs. Indeed, I wonder if Evans timed his retirement to assure Jacobs the nomination?

As for any shot at winning this district, Andrea Zinga has a better shot than before, but the race still leans to the Democrats. A former newscaster, she's attractive and articulate and has potential, but Evans's retirement doesn't automatically put this race in the first tier.


5 posted on 03/28/2006 4:26:24 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (Bob Taft for Impeachment)
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To: Clintonfatigued; Kuksool; fieldmarshaldj

"The likely Democrat nominee will be state Senator Mike Jacobs."



Do you know anything about him? If he's a conservative Democrat, then he'll probably win fairly comfortably, but if he's anywhere near as liberal as Evans I think Zinga may pull off the upset.

"Indeed, I wonder if Evans timed his retirement to assure Jacobs the nomination?"


If one wants to hand-pick one's successor, that's the thing to do. Heck, Bill Lipinski in the IL-03 retired after winning the primary and told ward leaders that they'd better select his son Dan as the nominee, or he'd unretire.

"As for any shot at winning this district, Andrea Zinga has a better shot than before, but the race still leans to the Democrats."


I agree, it leans Democrat, but it's still winnable for us. I don't know how well Blago will do in the district, and the're won't be the high turnout that normally benefits Democrats in presidential-election years.


6 posted on 03/28/2006 4:36:14 PM PST by AuH2ORepublican (http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/)
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To: edpc

COLD.



but funny.


7 posted on 03/28/2006 4:38:09 PM PST by eddie willers
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To: Clintonfatigued; Kuksool; BlackElk; AuH2ORepublican

The question is, is she the BEST candidate we can put forth ? Are there any Republican elected officials of stature within this district ? The only ones I can think of are current Moline Mayor Donald P. Welvaert, but he has only been in office since last year, and his 12-year predecessor, Stan Leach. Interesting how Sen. Jacobs said that Evans deserves a say in who replaces him, yet Jacobs doesn't believe Democrat primary voters are entitled to that right. I figure if Jacobs is coronated by party bosses, perhaps Zinga should similarly withdraw for us to anoint the highest-profile Republican in the district. Fair is fair, after all.


8 posted on 03/28/2006 4:39:25 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Cheney X -- Destroying the Liberal Democrat Traitors By Any Means Necessary -- Ya Dig ? Sho 'Nuff.)
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To: LdSentinal

Lane Evans's retirement is great news for conservatives. He had used his seniority to stay in Congress despite being far more liberal than his constituents. The 2002 redistricting made the IL-17 much more heavily Democrat, but they are fairly conservative Democrats, as can be gleaned from the fact that President Bush's vote percentage rose from 44% in 2000 to 48% in 2004. Given that Evans's retirement comes after the primary, I think the most likely result is that the Democrats will select a conservative Democrat from the Quad Cities area as the nominee, and he or she will be favored in the general election. But a Midwestern district that gave President Bush 48% in 2004 is far from unwinnable for us, and we are running an attractive and experienced candidate in Andrea Lane Zinga: http://www.andrealanezinga.com/


9 posted on 03/28/2006 4:40:18 PM PST by AuH2ORepublican (http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/)
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To: Dog Gone

Members of the House cannot be appointed but only elected.


10 posted on 03/28/2006 4:41:52 PM PST by H. Paul Pressler IV
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To: fieldmarshaldj

Zinga won't withdraw. She ran hard in 2004, and will run hard again this time. Frankly, I doubt that any other Republican would do better than her, since we need a candidate who shakes things up in order to beat an elected Democrat in that district.


11 posted on 03/28/2006 4:42:45 PM PST by AuH2ORepublican (http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/)
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To: H. Paul Pressler IV

I know that. The Democrats are going to appoint someone to run in the November election. It's in the story.


12 posted on 03/28/2006 4:43:23 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: H. Paul Pressler IV; Dog Gone

"Members of the House cannot be appointed but only elected."



But if a party nominee decides not to run after having won the primary, the party can appoint his replacement on the ballot (without the need for an additional primary). That's why Dog Gone said that he hoped the Democrats "appoint some loser."


13 posted on 03/28/2006 4:44:29 PM PST by AuH2ORepublican (http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

What you suggest is a very good idea, but I'd be surprised if Andrea Zinga actually does it.


14 posted on 03/28/2006 4:45:05 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (Bob Taft for Impeachment)
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To: Dog Gone

Okay, Thanks.


15 posted on 03/28/2006 4:46:46 PM PST by H. Paul Pressler IV
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To: HitmanLV; new yorker 77

I think that this race is a possibility.


16 posted on 03/28/2006 5:11:52 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (Bob Taft for Impeachment)
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To: LdSentinal
Mike Jacob's father already engineered similar shenanigans allowing Mike to succeed him as state senator. Had Evan's announcement come before last week's primary (!) Rock Island mayor Mark Schweibert would have been the likely nominee.

Lane Evans is one of the final vestiges of Watergate; this distict had been a safe GOP seat for years (save for the 1964 debacle) and had been held for many years by Tom Railsback. Railsback, however, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, voted for the Articles of Impeachment. Conservative bitterness festered until the primary of 1980 when Railsback was stunned by the unknown Ken McMillan. McMillan was then narrowly defeated by the even more unknown Lane Evans, who simply happened to be in the right place at the right time.

When the Democrats realized how liberal Evans was(the media calls him a "populist") they set out to protect him through redistricting and he's held on to the seat until now.

17 posted on 03/28/2006 6:24:52 PM PST by Charlemagne on the Fox
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To: My2Cents
I thought Republicans were the only ones who gerrymandered.

O RLY?


18 posted on 03/28/2006 6:38:15 PM PST by fzx12345 (Three lefts don't make a right; they invent one.)
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