UPDATED: Rep. Keith Wheeler Running in Dem-leaning District
Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) has yet to announce his 2022. plans.
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Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) has been surprisingly silent since petitions were allowed to be circulated and, as of this morning, he still hasn’t indicated his plans for 2022.
When the May version of the legislative map was passed, Wheeler had informed Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) that Wheeler would run against Welter instead of facing a more Democratic district in his current home.
Since the September map, it’s been crickets. Partly because most Republicans were told to keep their powder dry until a court decided and, secondly, we’re told Wheeler was waiting to see what Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) would do before jumping too quickly.
Rezin, of course, was courted by Jesse Sullivan’s campaign (and at least two others, we hear) to be their Lt. Governor running mate. She announced this week she’ll run for re-election to the Senate. So it left Wheeler with another possibility.
His house is in the new 83rd District, which runs from the Fox River in Oswego north picking up the west side of Aurora and parts of Batavia, Geneva, and St. Charles. The district is not super Republican friendly. The fabulous Illinois Election Data website shows President Biden won the district by around 18 percentage points. The 2018 races were closer, but Governor Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul still won the district by around 6 points.
Neither Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) or Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego) were drawn into separate Democratic districts and I haven’t seen a high profile Democratic name for the new 83rd yet.
So that brings us back to Welter. Welter’s new 75th District drifts north, including some of Wheeler’s Kendall County and some of Oswego, where Wheeler lives.
It’s a safely Republican district (Trump ‘20 and Rauner ‘18 were both +14), and it sounds like Wheeler’s folks believe the Kendall County votes give him an advantage in a primary.
House Republicans are intent on avoiding a member vs. member primary and want Wheeler to run in the 83rd where they believe they could pick up a Democratic-drawn district. But, Wheeler hasn’t made his plans known to House Republicans yet.
We had been trying to reach Wheeler and received a call back from a campaign aide Thursday saying he was dealing with a family medical issue and wasn’t available to talk to us.
That said, we don’t know what district Wheeler is passing petitions for, or even if he is passing petitions at this point.
Some Kendall County friends We’ve spoken to say they expect Wheeler to run against Welter.
Wheeler filed with around $235,000 cash on hand at the start of the year. Welter had around $161,000.
UPDATE:
Wheeler said Sunday he’ll run in the new Democrat-leaning 83rd District.
“Illinois families deserve better than what they are getting from state government in Springfield. Recently enacted legislation has opened the door for a massive surge in violent crime that reaches out from the City of Chicago to the suburbs endangering the safety of our families. The majority party just isn’t listening to the folks in our district when they unilaterally jam through bills that target law enforcement instead of criminals. They also need to stop ignoring the calls for lower taxes – especially property taxes. Too many hard-working families have left Illinois for better economic opportunities and lower taxes. The people of the 83rd District want to see more balance in state government: one where lawmakers work together and put the people first – not more political posturing. Collaborative leadership is what I commit to as your state representative. I pledge to work with leaders on both sides of the aisle and be a voice of reason and common sense while I stand up for the families of the 83rd District.”
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