Cheri Bustos Truth-- A Guest Post By Illinois-Based Author Devin Hansen

Devin Hansen is best known for his powerful and compelling biography of Illinois Congressman Lane Evans, Guts: The Lane Evans Story, co-founder with Bernie of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Evans was one of the most progressive members of Congress during his 12-term tenure in a Midwestern swing district, IL-17, now represented by reactionary corporatist Cheri Bustos. Unlike Bustos, Evans had the guts to vote his conscience rather than what was politically expedient. Hansen’s book makes the point that Evan's distinguished career is proof that a politician can be truthful and idealistic-- and still win. Below is a Blue America thermometer leading to a page filled with the progressive candidates being blacklisted by Bustos and her sick version of the DCCC. Please consider contributing what you can to these House candidates whose campaigns Bustos is sabotaging. We're very proud to run Devin Hansen's guest post:

Before Rep. Cheri Bustos was elected as head of the DCCC, she was featured in an article by Politico titled "The Secret Weapon Democrats Don’t Know How to Use" (May 12, 2017). A month later the Christian Science Monitor proclaimed she was "A Democrat Who Shows How to Win over Trump Voters."

Indeed. Bustos beat her Republican opponent by 20 points in the 17th District of IL, which also voted for Trump (albeit by less than 1%). She was one of just 11 Democrats to win in a Trump district in 2016.

This helped spring-board Bustos to win leadership of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But is she really the secret-weapon Democrats were looking for?

As a life-long resident of the 17th District, I’d have to argue no.

The 17th District of IL is NOT Trump territory. The district voted for Democrat presidential candidates from 1992 to 2016. And the Congressional seat has been held by a Democrat for all but four years since 1982, mostly by the late Congressman Lane Evans, who was easily one of the most progressive members of Congress (he started the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 1992 with Bernie Sanders, and was labelled the #1 foe of Ronald Reagan his first year in office).

The one Republican to hold the 17th was Bobby Schilling, who rode the Tea Party wave in 2010 and defeated Lane Evan’s successor, Phil Hare, who had been “coronoated” as the candidate in a special election of Democratic Precinct committeeman. Lane had fallen gravely ill and had to drop out after winning the March Primary. The special election angered many Democrats, so in the mid-term general election Phil received only 85k votes, when Democratic turnout is typically in the 130k range.

In the 2012 election, Bustos benefitted from a freshly gerrymandered district, as well as Obama’s re-election campaign, and ousted Schilling by seven points. The new 17th district was redrawn to include the metro areas of Peoria and Rockford, while avoiding the rural areas which surround them. The result was a district that was 68% Democrat and 32% Republican, yet still considered “purple.” Two years later Bustos beat Schilling by ten points in an election that saw a significant decrease in Republican turnout.

Which brings us to the 2016 election where Donald Trump won the district 47.4 – 46.7%. Who was Bustos’ opponent? The man she beat by 20 points? A fuel-truck driver with a GED and head of the Knox County Tea Party, Patrick Harlan. Harlan raised less than $19,000 dollars and had no support from local nor national Republican leaders. He ran on the same issues as Trump such as the wall and repealing Obamacare. He also said he was “guided by the Holy Spirit” and would govern “based on prayer.” I can remember seeing maybe 5 yard signs for this gentleman.

But what about 2018? When Bustos won by 24 points? That year, her opponent was Bill Fawell, a proclaimed Libertarian whose main campaign promise was to audit the Federal Reserve. The Republican Party pulled all financial and campaign support after Fawell posted to Facebook claiming 9/11 was an inside-job, and the Sandy Hook shooting was a “false flag.” Fawell spent less than $20,000.

Now in 2020, Bustos is facing two under-funded primary challengers, neither of which have much support outside of their hometowns. On the Republican side, Fawell is running again, as is a young lawyer named Joy Ester King, who has an impressive resume, but is seen by local leaders as a sacrificial lamb.

Bustos will once again win this district. Not because she is some great political soothsayer. Not because she has some magic formula to get all Democrats to win in Trump districts. Bustos got lucky. A Democratic banana could win this district.

It’s time to pull back the curtain, lift the DCCC blacklist, and let voters truly decide.


UPDATE: Finally, A Credible Opponent

Last month WCBU reported that Peoria Democrat Spanky Edwards-- saying that voters in IL-17 need another option in the March 2020 primary besides Bustos-- is running. He's president of the Peoria Chapter of the ACLU and the chairman of the Youth Works Committee of the Illinois NAACP.

"My job is to challenge the status quo. Because I feel like the status quo still leaves children hungry. The status quo still leaves black men shot in streets by police officers," he said. "It still leaves poverty for black people. It still leaves the immigration issue with our Hispanic brothers and sisters."

Edwards backs a slate of proposals to create more equity, such as Medicare for All, expanded workforce development training, and raising salaries for police, firefighters, and teachers into the six-figure range.

..."I am just a social justice, poor people's option. She can continue to go and represent, very wealthy people, wealthy Democrats. That's fine. But we need an option. And I am that option," he said. 

This'll be Bustos' first primary challenge to a reelection bid.