- Rep. Cheri Bustos is projected to have defeated the Republican Esther Joy King in Illinois' 17th Congressional District.
- The district is located along Illinois' northern and western borders.
- The 17th District is one of 30 districts that voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but are now represented in the House by Democrats.
- See the live coverage and full results from all US House elections.
The four-term Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos is projected to have defeated the Republican Esther Joy King in Illinois' 17th Congressional District, Insider and Decision Desk HQ can report.
The candidates
Bustos is a former journalist for the Quad-City Times. She left the paper to become the senior director of corporate communications for Trinity Regional Health Systems and then the vice president of corporate communications for UnityPoint Health — formerly the Iowa Health System.
She sits on the powerful House Committee on Appropriations as well as the Committee on Agriculture. In addition to her work in Congress, Bustos is the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of House Democrats.
King, Bustos' Republican challenger, is a member of the US Army Reserve in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. When she is away from her Army Reserve duties, she works as an attorney in East Moline. Her campaign platform was centered on reforming the immigration system, protecting Second Amendment rights, and ending abortion services.
The district
Illinois' 17th Congressional District is located in northwestern Illinois and is home to all of Carroll, Henderson, Jo Daviess, Fulton, Henry, Mercer, Rock Island, Knox, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Warren counties as well as parts of Peoria, Tazewell, and Winnebago counties.
Illinois' 17th District flipped from backing President Barack Obama in 2012 to narrowly voting for Donald Trump in 2016. In the 2016 presidential election, the district narrowly voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in a 47.4%-46.7% split, according to Daily Kos.
The district is now one of 30 in the country that voted for Trump but are currently represented by Democrats.
The money race
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Bustos has raised $3.9 million, spent $4.6 million, and has about $1.6 million in cash on hand, while King has raised about $1.7 million, spent $1.6 million, and has a little over $53,000 in cash on hand.
What the experts said
The race between Bustos and King was rated as "leans Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, "likely Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics and "safe Democratic" by Inside Elections.
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