Yesterday Steve Israel Handed Out Free Reelection Passes In Illinois-- Peter Roskam Got Very Lucky

no, not in play-- thanks to Steve Israel

Yesterday was the deadline for congressional candidates to file in Illinois-- the first in the nation. (Next up: Texas, December 9 and, in January, West Virginia and Kentucky.) But Illinois is all set now in terms of congressional candidates. The lucky ones are the candidates with no-- or only token-- opponents. They can spend their election dollars building power by helping their colleagues. In the four overwhelmingly Democratic districts in Chicago, the NRCC isn't running anyone.

• Bobby Rush- D+28 (Jimmy Tillman II is running again)
• Robin Kelly- D+29 (Apostolic Minister Eric Wallace is running again)
• Luis Guitierrez- D+29 (Hector Concepcion is running again)
• Danny Davis- D+36 (Robert Bumpers is running)

Last year, Obama won those 4 districts, respectively, with 79%, 81%, 81% and 87%. The Republicans were smart to not waste their resources in any of them. The most Republican district in the state is IL-18 and Romney took it with 61%. Schock was reelected with 74%. It's like they squeezed every white voter they could find in central Illinois into the district-- and excised the minority neighborhoods. IL-18 will be the last bastion of Republicanism in the state. Even though Schock is a shady closet case and under investigation for various ethical abuses, his big worry was a primary and Club for Growth failed in their efforts to find a teabagger to run against him. But Schock isn't the only Republican the DCCC decided to give free reelection passes for 2014 to. Here are the lucky GOP duckies:

• Peter Roskam- R+4 (Michael Mason is running on his own)
• Randy Hultgren- R+5 (2 non-DCCC Dems are trying)
• John Shimkus- R+14 (frequent candidate Eric Thorsland is running again)
• Adam Kinzinger- R+4 Randall (Olsen will give it a try without the DCCC)

Kinzinger, Hutgren, Shimkus and Roskam all have grassroots candidates the DCCC won't help but all 4 really are home free-- a full year before election day. Roskam is likely part of the deal with the NRCC that keeps DCCC Chairman Steve Israel's opponent, Stephen Labate, from getting any GOP help at all.

Roskam's 6th district is winnable for a serious, well-financed Democrat and Roskam isn't that formidable of a candidate for reelection. It's a wealthy (medium household income is $85,655), mostly white (85%) district in the 'burbs west of Chicago, including Wheaton, Downer's Grove, Naperville, Palatine and the Lake Zurich area. The Democratic legislature gerrymandered a bunch of Republican areas (Barrington Township, St. Charles, Crystal Lake and Palatine) into the district to make the 8th CD safe for Tammy Duckworth. DuPage County dominates the district and Obama won it in 2009 and 2012. He'd also won Kane and Lake counties. Roskam originally won the district running against Duckworth in 2006, after the grassroots progressive, Christine Cegelis, was defeated by the corrupt Democratic Cook County Machine working with Rahm Emanuel at the DCCC. Roskam beat Duckworth 51-49%. In 2008, the Democrats ran an Iraq War hawk and Roskam waltzed to reelection with 58%, did even better in the 2010 GOP sweep and beat a hapless and local candidate last year. The DCCC has handed him a career on a silver platter-- and now the former Tom DeLay aide and protege, is now the House Republicans' Chief Deputy Whip. He's far more conservative than the district but with Steve Israel in charge of the DCCC, he knows he has nothing to worry about.