BELLEVILLE, Ill. (Legal Newsline) – The Republican challenger in Illinois’ Democratically leaning 12th Congressional District recently released his first TV advertisement.
GOP state Rep. Mike Bost will face incumbent U.S. Rep. William Enyart, D- Belleville, in the general election.
The video ad, released Tuesday, features Bost’s wife, Tracy Bost, and focuses on the state representative’s service as a Marine, firefighter, father and grandfather.
“He’s a marine who served our country with honor, a firefighter who answered a community’s call for help, a small business owner who created jobs and a passionate legislator who called out corrupt Chicago politicians – that’s Mike Voss, my husband of 34 years,” Tracy Bost says in the ad.
“Most importantly he’s a caring father and grandfather, who leads be example. And I know he’ll be a great congressman, who listens to Southern Illinois.”
As the election nears, Bost will have outside support to help spread his message.
As of June 30, Enyart had the financial lead over Bost, with more than $600,000 more in his war chest, campaign finance records show.
However, the National Republican Congressional Committee likes Bost chances and is investing in his candidacy.
NRCC spokeswoman Katie Prill says the GOP’s Illinois strategy has changed from defense to offense, and it has spent a total of $1.4 million to support Republicans, like Bost, in key races, according to capitolfax.com.
In a previous interview, David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said if Democratic voter turnout is low, Bost could win the seat.
The 12th District includes the counties of St. Clair and part of Madison, Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, Williamson, Union, Alexander, Pulaski, Jackson, Randolph and Monroe.
The seat had been held for 20 years by Belleville Democrat Jerry Costello, who chose not to run for an 11th term in 2012.
Enyart, who had served as Illinois Adjutant General before running for office, was slated as the Democratic candidate after the primary election winner Brad Harriman pulled out of the race for health reasons in May 2012.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com
IL12 race update: Bost airs first TV ad, NRCC throws $1.4M in support behind him
