Peoria City Council member to run against Jehan Gordon (D-92nd District)

According to the Peoria County Republican Website, Jim Montelongo, an at-large member of the Peoria City Council, has agreed to run for the GOP nomination for the Illinois House of Representatives in the 92nd District.

If successful, he would face incumbent Jehan Gordon.

The brief announcement acknowledges it would be a tough battle, and i agree. Gordon faces strong opposition during the Democratic primary, but she won the general election fairly easily.

I think it's safe to say that she was helped by demographics. The ticket was headed by Barack Obama, which brought out higher than normal turn out among black voters. I have to inject race into any election, but it DID help her at the ballot box.

While this won't be the case in 2010, Gordon is now an incumbent, and she's been meeting with constituents regularly. She's shown independence from the house leadership that I didn't expect, such as her opposition to spending money to support Chicago's Olympic bid.

Montelongo will benefit from being a current office holder and from having more time to prepare to run that opponent Joan Krupa did in 2008. Gordon was being groomed by county party leaders to run against Aaron Schock, and she benefited from Schock's decision to run for Congress to replace former Congressman Ray LaHood. Krupa was the GOP's second choice to replace Schock on the ticket.

Here are the search results for Jim Montelongo here at Peoria Pundit. I know Montelongo and like him personally. He tends to be quiet as a member of the Peoria City Council, where he is still serving his first term, which expires May 2011. He would not have to resign his seat on the council to run.