Illinois' 8th congressional district

Infobox U.S. congressional district
state = Illinois
district number = 8


image width = 300px
image caption = The 8th congressional district of Illinois since 2003
representative = Melissa Bean
party = Democratic
english area =
metric area =
population urban =
percent rural =
population = 653,647
population year = 2000
median income = 62,762
percent white = 84.4
percent black = 3.3
percent asian = 5.7
percent native american = 0.2
percent hispanic = 10.8
percent other race = 4.5
percent blue collar =
percent white collar =
percent gray collar =
cpvi = R + 5

The 8th Congressional District of Illinois covers the northern suburbs of Chicago, including portions of Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. It has been represented by Democrat Melissa Bean since 2005.

From 1969 to 2005, it was represented by the longest-serving Republican member of the House, Phil Crane. Before Crane, the district was represented by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (1963-1969). The district has historically voted solidly Republican, though it has become more contested over time. In 2000, 55% of voters in the district voted for Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush. [ [http://www.ourcongress.org/race/il08 ourcongress.org] ] The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R +5.

The area was previously part of the ushr|Illinois|10|10th district from 1935-49, the ushr|Illinois|13|13th from 1949-73, the ushr|Illinois|12|12th from 1973-93. [ [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/IL/ofc/usrep.html politicalgraveyard.com] ]

2006 election

In the 2006 election, Melissa Bean faced Republican nominee David McSweeney and independent Bill Scheurer [ [http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/eg/07-20-06-978015.html pioneerlocal.com] ] . Melissa Bean retained her seat with about 51% of the vote, and is currently serving the 110th United States Congress.

References

External links

* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/census/il/district-8/ "Washington Post" page on the 8th District of Illinois]
* [http://fastfacts.census.gov/servlet/CWSFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=50000US1708&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US17%7C50000US1707&_street=&_county=&_cd=50000US1708&_cityTown=&_state=04000US17&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=500&_content=&_keyword=&_industry= U.S. Census Bureau - 8th District Fact Sheet]
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?cycle=2006&id=IL08 OpenSecrets.org political contributions and spending]
* [http://election.cbsnews.com/campaign2006/county.shtml?state=IL&race=H&jurisdiction=8 CBS county-by-county return of 2006 votes]