Illinois's 17th congressional district

Illinois's 17th congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023. Points indicate major cities in the district.
Representative
Area4,571.4 sq mi (11,840 km2)
Distribution
  • 73.3% urban
  • 26.7% rural
Population (2023)728,697
Median household
income		$57,307[1]
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+2[2]

The 17th congressional district of Illinois is represented by Democrat Eric Sorensen. It includes most of the northwestern portion of the state, with most of its population living on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, as well as parts of Peoria and Rockford.

The 17th congressional district has shifted northward after redistricting in 2012. It subsequently lost Quincy and Decatur, as well as its share of Springfield. It was generally thought that the redrawn map would allow the district to revert to the Democrats, who held it without interruption from 1983 to 2011.[3] As expected, incumbent Representative Bobby Schilling was defeated, after serving only one term, by Democratic opponent Cheri Bustos in the 2012 election cycle, who served until 2023.[4][5]

The boundaries were drawn in a bipartisan deal to protect both Democratic incumbent Lane Evans and neighboring Republican incumbents. The lines of the district were drawn to move Republican voters into neighboring districts and to include Democratic neighborhoods in Springfield and Decatur.[6] Evans retired in 2006 as a result of declining health, and the seat was won by his longtime aide Phil Hare. Although the district had been designed to elect a Democrat, Hare lost in 2010 to Republican pizzeria owner Bobby Schilling. In 2012, Democrat Cheri Bustos won the district election.

In early 2021, Cheri Bustos announced her intention to retire at the end of the 117th congress.[5] In November 2021, former WREX and WQAD meteorologist Eric Sorenson announced his candidacy for the seat.[7] He later won the election with 52% of the vote.[8]

  1. ^ Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
  2. ^ "2022 Cook PV: District Map and List". The Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Sweeny, Chuck. "Rockford stands to lose big in the new 17th District". Rockford Register Star. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  4. ^ "Bustos beats Schilling in redrawn 17th District". aledotimesrecord.com. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Democrat Cheri Bustos Announces Retirement From Congress". HuffPost. April 30, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  6. ^ "5 Ways to Tilt an Election" (PDF). The New York Times. September 25, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  7. ^ "Former Rockford meteorologist Eric Sorensen announces run for Illinois' 17th Congressional District". WIFR-LD. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  8. ^ "Democrat Eric Sorensen's win keeps Illinois House seat with Democrats". NPR. November 10, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2023.