Schneider- Dold rematch for 10th District heats up
WASHINGTON— With early voting in Illinois starting next Monday, the already sizzling rematch between Rep. Brad Schneider, D- Ill., and former Rep. Bob Dold, R- Ill., for the north suburban 10th Congressional District seat got hotter on Monday on several fronts:
Biden in for early vote push: Vice President Joe Biden will headline an early vote rally in the 10th District on Oct. 22 as part of the getoutthe- vote drive being run by Schneider in coordination with the campaigns of Gov. Pat Quinn and U. S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill.
The Schneider campaign, based in Northbrook, is mounting a major early vote and vote- by- mail push, as are Quinn and Durbin.
The early vote is a potent political tool— especially aimed at likely supporters. In Illinois, the early vote goes from Monday through Nov. 2. A person does not have to provide any reason for wanting to cast a ballot at an early voting site.
The Biden rally will feature Schneider, Durbin and Paul Vallas, Quinn’s running mate.
Biden also will be the draw at a fundraising dinner for Sen. Mark Udall, D- Colo., at the home of former White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod and his wife, Susan.
Sen. Kirk in Dold ad: The 10th is home to Sen. Mark Kirk, R- Ill., and he represented this turf when he was in the House. Kirk has enormous goodwill in the district and is much better known in the 10th communities than either Dold, defeated by Schneider after one term, or Schneider, in his freshman term.
Kirk is featured in a new Dold ad produced by the Libertyville- based Dold campaign.
In the spot, Kirk slaps Schneider for “being part of the problem in Washington.”
Most important in the ad is not the dig at Schneider, but the particular praise Kirk heaps on Dold.
Kirk says in the spot, videotaped in the kitchen of a supporter, that Dold deserves support because “He’s a social moderate and a fiscal conservative; he’s likeme.”
That message— that Dold is in the Kirk mold— is one the Dold campaign will be amplyfing.
Schneider ahead in Dem House poll: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House political shop, commissioned a 10th District poll that shows Schneider ahead of Dold by 48 percent to 40 percent, with 11 percent undecided. I obtained a polling memo. I did not see the poll. And partisan surveys leak almost only when they are self- serving.
The survey underscores how swing voters are a big factor in the Dold- Schneider battle. Lester & Associates and Global Strategy Group jointly conducted the poll. It consists of a survey of 400 likely voters, surveyed between Oct. 4- 6 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Schneider is helped by Durbin. Dold is bolstered by GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner. The 10th poll put Durbin over GOP rival Jim Oberweis 52 percent to 40 percent. Rauner beats Quinn 47 percent to 40 percent.
Boehner- linked super PAC: $ 1 million to help Dold: A super PAC linked to House Speaker John Boehner, R- Ohio, is pouring about $ 1 million into a drive to help Dold, the latest in a growing list of outside money flowing into the 10th contest.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, which also is associated with the entire House GOP leadership team, is spending about $ 980,000 for a video spot hitting Schneider. The fund bought time and space on broadcast TV and digital platforms starting on Tuesday, running through Oct. 20. The fund and its sister organization, the American Action Network, is planning to spend $ 16 million in independent expenditures in 14 House races.