Even with 17 years of elected service under his belt, Republican congressional hopeful Jeff Walter knew unseating veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville would be an uphill battle from the very beginning of his campaign.
Not only was the 11th District gerrymandered to benefit Democrats, but as Election Day approached, it became clearer and clearer that the growing opposition to President Donald Trump’s agenda was going to drag down Republican candidates across the region and country.
Still, Walter — who’s been Elburn’s mayor since 2017 after eight years as a trustee — gave it his all. He marched in parades, spread his message on social media and put campaign material in every hand he could.
It wasn’t enough.
With an estimated 60% of votes counted, Foster was leading with about 69% of the total, unofficial results showed. That was more than enough for The Associated Press to declare Foster the winner of an eighth consecutive term on Capitol Hill.
Foster spent much of election night at Go Brewing in Naperville, where fellow Democrats had gathered to watch results come in and celebrate the anticipated wins of state Sen. Laura Ellman and state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Foster thanked voters for again trusting him to represent them in Congress “at this critical moment for our nation and democracy.”
“Tomorrow, we have a job to do,” Foster said. “We have a responsibility to hold this administration accountable while also delivering on the promises the American people elected us to accomplish, from lowering costs to addressing AI risk and building an economy that works for everyone.”
Walter sounded disheartened after being told of The Associated Press’ declaration. He thanked supporters and said he and his team “put a heck of an effort into it.”
“It’s unfortunate that this is the way it went, but the voters have spoken,” said Walter, who spent election night at his campaign headquarters in St. Charles.
Foster, a former scientist who briefly represented the 14th District before the people of the neighboring 11th sent him to Congress in 2012, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination this year. Walter, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired IT consultant, won a four-way GOP primary in March for the right to face Foster in the general election.
Walter generally stuck to the Republican Party playbook during the campaign. He criticized former President Joe Biden’s economic and immigration polices, praised President Donald Trump’s tariffs and Trump’s approach to border security and supported legislation to keep biologically male athletes out of women’s sports.
Foster, however, called Trump’s tariffs reckless and haphazard; remained a proud supporter of the Affordable Care Act; and opposed Trump’s efforts to restrict mail-in voting.
Foster’s campaign was significantly better funded than Walter’s, which meant he was better able to disseminate his message.
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Team Foster raised nearly $2.6 million through mid-October and spent about $1.5 million.
In contrast, Walter’s campaign collected less than $432,000 in donations during the cycle — and of that sum, more than $198,000 came in as loans from the candidate, records show. The Walter campaign spent nearly every dollar it had, nearly $424,000 as of mid-October.
Without enough money for valuable — and costly — TV commercials, Walter had to stick with grassroots campaigning.
“It would’ve been nice to have another half-million dollars,” Walter said Tuesday before polls closed. “We would love to have done more formal advertising — but we just didn’t have the budget for it.”
The 11th District encompasses portions of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.