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Candidate for Congress Switches Parties
One of what was to be four Democratic candidates for Congress in the 17th District has changed his mind.

Illinois State Board of Elections records indicates that Rock Island Attorney Eric Reyes did not make Tuesday's deadline to run as a Democrat in the March Primary.

Instead, Reyes issued a statement Tuesday evening indicating he's doing what the voters want him to do: run as an Independent.

Reyes admits in the statement that conventional wisdom would suggest that Independent candidates can't win. But, he says he was recently approached by what he called "the leader of a progressive group" about running independently.

Reyes did not identify the group. but he says his candidacy has always seemed to buck conventional wisdom, so he decided to run that way.

That will leave three Democrats vying for the chance to run against Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling: former newspaper reporter Cheri Bustos, Augustana College employee Greg Aguilar, and Freeport Mayor George Galurapp.

None of the candidates have made any recent appearances in Galesburg.

Meantime, incumbent Republican Aaron Schock will have an opponent in the March Primary. Not much is known about Darrell Miller of Danvers except that he ran two years ago in the 11th Congressional District and list, but he's running against Schock as a Republican now in the newly-redrawn 18th District. The Democratic primary there will have Pekin's Matthew Woodmancy, and Steve Waterworth of Easton, Illinois.
12 28 11 by Newsroom
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