Free Republic

GALESBURG - Some of the Republican Party's heaviest hitters are now lending cash and clout to the campaign of 17th District congressional candidate Andrea Zinga. Zinga, along with U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, made stops Monday in the Quad Cities, Galesburg and Peoria to announce she has the party's full backing. "Between now and Election Day, you're going to see this race get a lot of attention nationally," LaHood said in Galesburg. Zinga, 56, of Coal Valley won the March primary election, edging out Jim Mowen of Rock Island. Brian Gilliland of Aledo finished a distant third. In November, she...

Illinois Democratic Rep. Lane Evans announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of this year, after having served 12 terms in the House. Evans cited his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease, diagnosed in 1995, as the reason for his decision. The announcement sets up a potentially competitive race for his eastern Illinois district, a traditionally Democratic area that has trended slightly more Republican in recent years. It also opens the senior Democratic position on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee for the first time since 1995. Evans, 54, has been staying at his Washington-area home for the past month after...

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...