The new congressman from Illinois’ 14th District is Randy Hultgren, a Republican who ousted Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in 2010. Hultgren was raised in Wheaton, a suburb west of Chicago. He was the youngest of three children who lived above their family’s funeral home. His penchant for politics developed early. In the eighth grade, Hultgren found he liked his government class, especially when the teacher organized the students into a mini model Congress. In high school, he got involved in student government, as well as in choir and musical theater. The grandson of a Baptist pastor, Hultgren became the third generation in his family to attend Bethel College (now Bethel University) in Minnesota. After graduation, he headed to Washington, and in 1988, was hired on the staff of Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, who eventually became House speaker. Hultgren progressed quickly from intern to office manager for Hastert, and the work persuaded him to return to his hometown to pursue a degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Read More

The new congressman from Illinois’ 14th District is Randy Hultgren, a Republican who ousted Democratic Rep. Bill Foster in 2010. Hultgren was raised in Wheaton, a suburb west of Chicago. He was the youngest of three children who lived above their family’s funeral home. His penchant for politics developed early. In the eighth grade, Hultgren found he liked his government class, especially when the teacher organized the students into a mini model Congress. In high school, he got involved in student government, as well as in choir and musical theater. The grandson of a Baptist pastor, Hultgren became the third generation in his family to attend Bethel College (now Bethel University) in Minnesota. After graduation, he headed to Washington, and in 1988, was hired on the staff of Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, who eventually became House speaker. Hultgren progressed quickly from intern to office manager for Hastert, and the work persuaded him to return to his hometown to pursue a degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

After graduation, Hultgren practiced with a local firm for a while, and in the mid-1990s, opened his own firm. During that time, he got a stock broker’s license so he could also do investment work, a practice he continued until his election to Congress. This period was also formative in his political career. In 1990, he was elected as a Republican precinct committee member for Milton Township, and, four years later, Hultgren won a seat on the DuPage County Board, a governing body for several densely populated western suburbs.

In 1998, when Hultgren caught wind that a personal friend, state Rep. Peter Roskam, was planning a bid for Congress, he moved quickly to get into position to run for Roskam’s Illinois House seat, which he won. Following that pattern in 2006, he was elected to succeed Roskam in the state Senate after Roskam ran for Congress.

In the summer of 2009, Hultgren decided to take on Foster, a Democrat, who had won Hastert’s former seat in a March 2008 special election. But Hultgren wasn’t the only one who sensed possibilities in a district that, before Foster came along, had been in GOP hands since the Great Depression. Hultgren had to compete for the nomination with Ethan Hastert, the son of his former political mentor. “It certainly wasn’t anything personal,” Hultgren told National Journal. “But I felt pretty strongly that it hadn’t worked very well for Republicans’ kids to take their parents’ spots here in Illinois. I just felt like we needed someone who had run for office before to be able to win the seat back.”

In an upset, Hultgren overcame Hastert’s high name recognition and political pedigree to win the February primary by a comfortable 10 percentage points. Afterward, Hastert endorsed Hultgren in his contest with Foster. Hultgren also won backing from tea party activists, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

During the general election campaign, he portrayed Foster as a liberal out of touch with the exurban district, and he made frequent references to liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Hultgren said he would not have voted for the $787 billion economic stimulus bill or the health care overhaul, both of which Foster supported. A Harvard-trained physicist, Foster decreed Hultgren to be too “far right” for the district. He also raised significantly more money than Hultgren, and conspicuously did not mention his party affiliation. On Election Day, Hultgren won with 51% of the vote to Foster’s 45%. Green Party candidate Daniel Kairis got nearly 4%. Foster won only one population center—DeKalb County, home to the liberal-leaning academic community of Northern Illinois University. Hultgren won the largest county, Kane, 51%-46%; and he also won Kendall County, 53% to 44%.