 Or, as one political observer put it:"That is it," said Kent
Redfield, a professor of political science at the University of
Illinois at Springfield.
The slim requirements may testify to the nation's forefathers'
commitment to democracy, although the lack of a residency
requirement may strike some as odd -- or not.
The Republican candidate looking to unseat Democrat Phil Hare in
the 17th Congressional District does not reside in that district and
instead lives in the adjacent 14th District.
Bobby Schilling acknowledged he doesn't live in the district he's
seeking to represent, but noted that his Moline restaurant and his
life history are tied to the 17th District.
"I was born and raised in the 17th and my heart's in the 17th,"
Schilling said.
Schilling's home address in Colona lies within the 14th District,
which cuts across the state, stretching from just east of the Quad
Cities to just east of Aurora.
The 17th District, meanwhile, runs along the Illinois-Iowa
border, reaching from Sterling in the north to Staunton in the
south, while pointing an awkward finger east that includes parts of
Springfield and Decatur.
However, even Hare declined to be pinned down on Schilling's lack
of residency, taking aim at his politics instead.
"Mr. Schilling's far-right positions are a greater obstacle to
his ability to represent the 17th District than his address is,"
Hare said through spokeswoman Maggie Depoorter.
Schilling said that when he decided to run for office following
the 2008 election, he sought the advice of political strategists,
who recommended he seek the 14th District seat. He didn't listen.
"Everything I have is in the 17th District," he said. "Where I
sleep at night is in the 14th District."
An analyst with the nationally recognized University of Virginia
Center for Politics said Schilling's assessment has merit.
"A candidate may in fact be a member of a community, when you
have lines cutting cities in half, communities in half," said Isaac
Wood, who studies U.S. House races.
Schilling said his home was originally part of the 17th District
but was pushed into the adjacent district when the state's
congressional map was redrawn in 2001. He said his house lies about
a mile and a half "as the crow flies" from the 17th's line.
Congressional as well as state legislative districts are redrawn
every 10 years following a U.S. census. Illinois requires residency
in legislative districts, but, like all states, cannot mandate the
same of congressional candidates since the U.S. Constitution trumps
any state efforts, noted Redfield, the UIS professor.
"Where you live can be a political problem, not a legal problem,"
he said.
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The race in the suburban 8th District appears a prime example.
Incumbent congresswoman Melissa Bean first ran in 2002 and was
elected in 2004 while living in the 10th District and still resides
there.
She told local media shortly after her election she didn't plan
on moving from her home in Barrington -- which previously lay in the
8th District before boundaries were redrawn in 2001. Bean spokesman
Jonathan Lipman noted her house resides about a quarter of a mile
from current 8th District boundaries but declined to comment
further.
Bean's GOP challenger, Joe Walsh, has raised her residency status
as a campaign issue, but he himself just moved into the 8th District
from the 10th District in May, relocating from Wilmette to McHenry.
Walsh said he's always been amazed that congressional candidates
don't have a residency requirement.
"I think it's just part of the narrative of you have to represent
your district," Walsh said.
While most candidates choose to either keep their current
residence or move into the district, Democratic congressman Luis
Gutierrez in 2008 moved out of his elected 4th District into the 5th
District, meaning he couldn't vote for himself in that year's
election. But he won the election, raising the question of the
importance of district lines.
"They don't make much sense to voters," Wood said.
However, that doesn't stop Illinois politicians from drawing
oddly shaped districts -- like the 17th -- in order to favor the
political party in control. The process of gerrymandering has become
an art in Illinois, Redfield said.
"When textbooks show examples of gerrymandering, they often show
Gutierrez's 4th and Hare's 17th districts," he said. "We've got a
reputation."
But a good-government advocate said the lack of a residency
requirement perhaps balances out the political manipulation of
congressional district boundaries. David Morrison of the Illinois
Campaign for Political Reform said the importance of the location of
a candidate's home is ultimately decided at the ballot box.
"Does that invalidate the quality of representation?" he said.
"That's a question for voters."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MARY MASSINGALE]
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