Illinois: Eigteenth District

Rep. Ray LaHood (R)

Ray LaHood (R) Elected 1994, 7th term up
Born:	12-06-1945, Peoria
Home:	Peoria
Education:	Canton Jr. Col., 1963-65, Bradley U., B.S. 1971
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Kathy)
Elected  Office:	IL House of Reps., 1982.
Professional Career:	Jr. High Schl. Teacher, 1971–77; Dir., Rock Island Youth Svcs., 1972–74; Chief Planner, Bi–state Planning Comm., 1974–76; Dist. A.A., U.S. Rep. Tom Railsback, 1977–82; Dist. A.A., U.S. Rep. Bob Michel, 1983–90, Chief of Staff, 1990–94.
DC Office	1424 LHOB, 20515 202-225-6201 Fax: 202-225-9249 Website: www.house.gov/lahood
State Offices	Jacksonville:217-245-1431; Peoria:309-671-7027; Springfield:217-793-0808;
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Old vaudeville bookers, presented with a new act, used to ask, “Will it play in Peoria?” The implication was that if an act went over in this small city on the bluffs above the Illinois River, 154 miles from Chicago and 171 miles from St. Louis, it would go over just about anywhere. In the first half of the 20th century, Peoria did seem pretty typical of America. If its citizens were mostly of British or German descent, with a small percentage of blacks, that was the image of ordinary America that prevailed through the 1960s, despite the great immigrations of 1880–1924 and the northward urban migrations of southern rural blacks of 1940–1965. But Peoria’s economy today has changed, much as America’s has changed. This is still a heavy manufacturing town, dominated by big plants that produce farm machinery and earth-moving equipment. Its biggest employer is Caterpillar, the world’s leading producer of earth-moving and construction equipment, and one of America’s major exporters. There are more than just memories here of the sharp divide between blue collar and white collar, union and management, Democrat and Republican—the basis of the class warfare politics that was the norm in heavy industrial metropolises of the Great Lakes region starting with the sit-down strikes of the late 1930s. But the blue-collar workers now are not as numerous and the unions not as strong. The Peoria area went through terrible times in the 1980s, as big farm machinery plants laid off workers and even closed down. Then Caterpillar, struck by the United Auto Workers in 1992, hired replacement workers and continued to operate—not without some friction and inefficiency, but profitably—something unheard of a decade or more earlier. Not until 1998 did union members approve a settlement, pretty much on the company’s terms. There was no population growth here in the 1990s, and Peoria slipped from 3d to 7th among the largest cities in Illinois. 

The 18th Congressional District of Illinois, variously configured, has been the Peoria district since the 1940s. It has been represented by two national Republican leaders: from 1933–49 by Everett McKinley Dirksen, who was elected senator in 1950 and was Senate Republican leader from 1959–69, and Robert Michel, congressman from 1957–95 and House Republican leader from 1981–95. The 18th’s boundaries currently extend through rich farm land south along the Illinois River and east to include half of Springfield (including the state Capitol) and west within a few miles of Iowa, away from historically Republican Peoria toward the historically marginal counties of central Illinois. It is the home of Eureka College, which dedicated the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden in honor of its 1932 graduate and the end of the Cold War that he helped to achieve.

The congressman from the 18th District is Ray LaHood, a Republican elected in 1994. LaHood announced in July 2007 that he would not seek reelection in 2008 after holding the seat for seven terms.

 LaHood grew up in Peoria, the grandson of an immigrant from Lebanon and son of a restaurant manager. He worked his way through school, spent six years teaching in Catholic schools, then moved to Rock Island, where he worked with delinquent teens and became a staffer for Congressman Tom Railsback. He served in the Illinois House in 1982, then worked for Congressman Michel in Peoria and, from 1990–94, was his chief of staff in Washington. When Newt Gingrich pointedly declined to rule out running against Michel for Republican leader after the 1994 election, Michel decided to retire. LaHood ran to replace his boss, and in the Republican primary beat state Representative Judy Koehler, 50%-40%. LaHood’s Democratic opponent was Douglas Stephens, a labor lawyer and small businessman, who held Michel to 52% in 1982. In a Republican year, LaHood carried all but one county and won 60%-39%.

LaHood’s voting record has made him a centrist in the House, both in substance and style. He’s an institutional maverick: He has a keen appreciation and respect for the House, and insists on asserting his prerogatives. An odd man out under Speaker Gingrich, LaHood became more visible during and after Gingrich’s final days as Speaker. He was one of only three Republicans who did not sign the Contract with America; he had reservations about voting for tax cuts until the budget was balanced. He filled a niche by frequently presiding over the House. With his experience in monitoring the floor for Michel, LaHood’s evenhanded rulings, his surefooted mastery of parliamentary procedure and his determination to maintain decorum were widely appreciated. Most famously, he presided over the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

When Dennis Hastert replaced Gingrich as Speaker, LaHood suddenly was well placed with House leaders and he got seats on the Appropriations and Intelligence committees. But he continued to go his own way. As a self-styled deficit hawk, he supported a freeze in federal spending. He seized on the disputed 2000 count in Florida as an opportunity to advance his cause of abolishing the Electoral College and replacing it with a national popular vote count. But the moment passed without action. He was the only House member to speak out against the creation of the commission to investigate the causes of the September 11 attacks. When the House debated the commission’s proposed reforms of intelligence operations, LaHood opposed them for “creating another bureaucracy.” He has been active in internal House politics. In 2002, he considered running for majority whip, but he backed off when it became clear that Roy Blunt had locked up the votes; in January 2006, he was an early backer of John Boehner over Blunt for majority leader. After he lost a bid for the Intelligence Committee chairmanship, LaHood said that he would not agree to Hastert’s requirement that he give up his Appropriations seat. After the base-review commission in 2005 decided to move 15 F-16 jets from the Air National Guard unit in Springfield, LaHood filed a House resolution to reject its entire list; the House overwhelmingly defeated his proposal. In June 2006, he was among seven Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee who supported a Democratic amendment to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. As a result, GOP leaders kept the bill off the House floor. Following revelations of improper conduct by Representative Mark Foley with House pages, LaHood called for suspending what he called the “antiquated” page program so that it could be reevaluated.

LaHood has been re-elected by wide margins throughout his district, and he has been outspoken about problems among Illinois Republicans. When Senator Peter Fitzgerald attacked Hastert for not imposing federal bidding requirements on the Abraham Lincoln Library project, LaHood told the Chicago Sun-Times, “I’m thinking about trying to make sure that Peter has an opponent” in the Republican primary. “I think we can do better than him.” Fitzgerald retired. When court records opened by court order revealed that 2004 Senate nominee Jack Ryan took his former wife to sex clubs, LaHood said that he should leave the race; Ryan did. In early 2005, LaHood toured the state to explore a run for governor, but he decided in August that former Governor Jim Edgar, who was considering the race then but later decided not to run, would be a better candidate.

LaHood won in November 2006 with 67% of the vote and appeared to have a lock on the seat, but in June 2007 he announced he had suspended his political fundraising and was considering applying for the presidency of Bradley University, his alma mater. In July, LaHood said he had decided not to apply for the job, and later that month announced he would not seek reelection.

Committees

• Appropriations (18th of 29 R)
  Select Intelligence Oversight (RMM); Legislative Branch; Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA & Related Agencies.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 5
• Area size: 8,302 square miles
• Urban Population: 68.0%
• Rural Population: 32.0%
• Population 2000: 653,647
• Population 2005 (est): 660,990
• Median Income: $41,934
• Poverty Status: 8.9%
• Military Veterans: 14.2%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 90.0% White; 6.4% Black; 0.9% Asian; 0.2% Native Am.; 0.0% Hawaiian; 0.9% Two+ races; 0.1% Other; 1.5% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 21.2% German%; 9.7% Irish%; 8.8% English%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 24.7%; White collar 59.1%; Gray collar 16.2%;