Dems to face primary for targeted House seat

A competitive primary is shaping up to be one of House Democrats’ top targets this cycle: Illinois’s 10th District.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering (D) announced Tuesday morning that she’s running to face Rep. Robert Dold (R), putting her on a primary collision path with former Rep. Brad Schneider, who is likely to announce his bid in the coming weeks.

{mosads}”I am running for Congress to fight for educational opportunities for our students and economic fairness for all Americans,” she said in a statement. “I will be a consistent advocate for a woman’s right to choose, for accessibility to quality health care and a staunch defender of Israel, our only democratic ally in the Middle East.”

The Schneider camp was quick to respond with a poll that shows him up 44 points in the primary. The poll of 430 likely primary voters, conducted by Democratic firm Normington Petts, finds him leading Rotering 56 percent to 12 percent.

Dold is one of House Democrats’ biggest targets. Though President Obama won the district by 16 points in 2012, a competitive primary could prove costly for Democrats.

Schneider and Dold have been battling over the district for years. Schneider defeated Dold, then a first-term congressman, in 2012 by a narrow margin. Dold won the seat back by a similarly narrow margin last fall.

The primary also has the potential to pit two major Democratic groups against one another. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been encouraging Schneider to run, while Rotering has the type of profile that the deep-pocketed EMILY’s List looks for in a candidate, though it’s unlikely the group would support her unless she first shows she has momentum in the race.

Updated at 11:35 a.m.