Clearly one of the most highly watched congressional races in Illinois is between Rep. Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren.
But there's new contention popping up in the suddenly not-so-secure 2nd district.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., still ailing from testimony given during the retrial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, formally will get an opponent this week.
Former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who has her own ties to the Blagojevich drama, plans to announce on Thursday her run in the 2nd District.
“Our families are facing serious challenges, and they need a serious member of Congress who can get things done," the Democrat from Crete said in a campaign email to the press. "Our neighbors don’t need rhetoric, they need results."
Though Halvorson criticized Blagojevich after he was arrested, some said she did nothing to prevent pay-to-play antics by delaying an ethics reform vote.
She served as a representative for the 11th from 2009 to 2011, when Adam Kinzinger unseated her. She and Jackson have gone head-to-head in the past, namely over a third airport Jackson wanted near Peotone.
Halvorson will make her announcement at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, she said, at Skyline Restaurant in Chicago Heights.
