Illinois's 3rd Congressional District - Politics

Politics

The District has been described as "ancestrally Democratic, culturally conservative, multiethnic and viscerally patriotic." It earned a reputation as being home to Reagan Democrats when in the 1980 presidential election it was one of only two Chicago districts (out of nine) to be won by Republican Ronald Reagan, along with the 6th District (an almost entirely suburban district which also included Chicago's O'Hare Airport); the district simultaneously reelected Democratic congressman Marty Russo with nearly 69% of the vote. The Reagan Democrat description became even more appropriate when Reagan received 65% of the vote here in 1984, as Russo again won with 64%. Redistricting for the 1990s shifted the district into more reliably Democratic territory, but Bill Clinton won the district in 1992 by just a 41%-39% margin despite receiving at least 65% of the vote in four other south side districts; he won the district with 53% in 1996 although his totals in the other south side districts were all between 80-85%. George W. Bush received 41% of the vote here in both 2000 and 2004 despite not exceeding 21% in any of the other four south side districts; it was his best performance in any district located primarily within Cook County. Much of the district's current suburban territory was in the 4th District from the 1950s to the 1970s, when that was a solidly Republican suburban district represented by Ed Derwinski; more recently, Lyons, Palos and Riverside Townships, which together approximately correspond with the district's western half, all voted for Bush in 2000. Over the last eight presidential elections, the Democratic nominee for Congress has run an average of 20 points ahead of the party's nominee for president in the district.

Redistricting which took effect for the 1992 elections kept only 40% of the district's previous area, and pitted nine-term incumbent Russo – who changed his residence rather than run in the 2nd District, which now included his previous home – against five-term incumbent Bill Lipinski, who had previously represented the 5th District, in the Democratic primary. Lipinski ran close to Russo in the suburbs but easily won the Chicago areas, and won the primary 58%-37%. Lipinski was decidedly the most conservative Democrat in the Illinois delegation, opposing abortion and gays in the military, supporting school prayer, tuition vouchers, the Defense of Marriage Act and the death penalty, and helping to write a proposed constitutional amendment in 1997 prohibiting flag desecration. A member of the Blue Dog Democrats, he was one of just 30 Democrats to vote for the Republican welfare reform plan. He clashed often with the Clinton administration, opposing the president's position over half the time in the 1997-98 Congress. He was one of 31 Democrats to vote in favor of a Judiciary Committee inquiry during the leadup to Clinton's impeachment; he eventually voted against impeachment, but simultaneously called on Clinton to resign. In 1999, Lipinski stated that Clinton "doesn't have credibility on military issues," adding that "the American people feel Clinton is unsure." He was a consistent opponent of U.S. free trade agreements, arguing that they were disastrous for American manufacturing. Lipinski received higher approval ratings from the American Conservative Union than from the ACLU in 12 of his last 13 years in office, though his highest ratings generally came from labor and consumer groups and the Christian Coalition. He received a 0 rating from the ACLU for the 1997-98 term, and also compiled an overall 0 rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League. His policies enabled him to work easily with Republicans; he was a candidate to become Transportation Secretary in the Bush administration, and collaborated with House Speaker Dennis Hastert of the 14th District to design the state's redistricting plan following the 2000 Census. Lipinski's positions were generally in line with those of district residents, and after surviving with a 54%-46% win amid the Republican gains of 1994 he was reelected by increasing margins in each succeeding election; in 2002 he became the first unopposed candidate in the history of the District.