The challenger in the 17th Illinois Congressional District is sticking with Donald Trump, in spite of a 2005 video riddled with Trump's offensive comments about women. Republican Patrick Harlan doubled down the Monday after the video went viral, saying Hillary Clinton would be worse for the country.
One expert, Matt Streb, finds Harlan's position a little surprising. Streb is a political science professor at Northern Illinois University.
"One of the things Harlan wants to bring back is morality," Streb says. But he notes Harlan's focus on ending abortion makes the candidate more likely to ignore Trump and concentrate on Clinton.
Whatever his focus, Harlan has little chance of getting elected to Congress because the 17th is a very Democratic district. What's more, according to Streb, Harlan didn't bother to raise money for his campaign. "Patrick Harlan, last I checked, did not even file an FEC report," Streb says. "That sums up all you need to know in this race."
The incumbent, Democrat Cheri Bustos, has about $3 million.
According to Streb, Harlan admitted in the GOP primary that he expected to lose against Bustos. "He actually did come out and say," Streb says, "`I'm running because I don't think Bustos should be unopposed'."
Advocates of contested elections might be tempted to give Harlan a medal when Democrats in the neighboring 16th District didn't bother to challenge Adam Kinzinger.
"Having competition, having contested elections, is an important thing in a democracy," Streb says.
In the audio link above, Streb also examines the contest in the 6th Illinois Congressional District between incumbent Republican Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Amanda Howland. In that interview, Streb addresses the Trump-inspired gender gap and whether it could unseat enough GOP incumbents to flip control of the House.
Tomorrow, Streb examines the contests in the state's 14th and 11th Congressional Districts. Listen during Morning Edition at 6:52 and 8:52 -- after our Perspective.
