Former Foster Staffer Looks To Unseat Roskam

NAPERVILLE, IL — Former district chief of staff for Rep. Bill Foster (D-11) Carole Cheney on Tuesday announced her bid to run against Republican Congressman Peter Roskam in Illinois' sixth district. In a news release, she looked to link Roskam to President Donald Trump, accusing him of putting "the Trump agenda ahead of the needs of the people he is supposed to be serving." Cheney said she officially filed paperwork Tuesday and launched her campaign website.

“I’m running for office to give a voice back to the people of Illinois’ Sixth District,” Cheney said in a statement. She served as district chief of staff for Foster from 2013 to 2017. A former reporter for a National Public Radio affiliate in central Illinois, Cheney practiced law for 20 years at an international law firm in Chicago.

In February, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that Roskam was one of 20 Republicans it was looking to oust in 2018, according to Politico. “They're obviously looking at districts where Trump underperformed, looking for soft spots, basically," Roskam said at the time. "I saw [the DCCC] in 2006 and 2008 … it's not new territory.”

“Too often, people say government isn’t working. I have helped make government work and want to keep doing so,” Cheney said.

In 2012, Cheney sought the Democratic nomination for the Illinois House of Representatives for the District 84 but was defeated by State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit.

Image via Carole for Congress