Breaking Down the 5th

Political consultant Mike Fourcher (the man behind Chicago Cloutwiki) shares the slides he presented this week to the Northside of Democracy for America chapter; key takeaways from his preview of the Febrary 3 primary election

• The majority of votes in the District can be found in the city.
• Shrinking middle class: between the 2000 Census and 2007, the residents of the District became both more educated (from 23% college educated to 36%) and poorer (from 8.6% to 10.6%)
• Other demographic oddities: the 5th became slightly less foreign born (30.8/28.6), while also becoming a bit more Latino (25% to 27.7%).
• Alums of the Bill Foster victory are managing the campaigns of Sara Feigenholtz (Mike Redina, Foster’s manager), Mike Qugley (Tom Bowen) and John Fritchey  (Josh Levin).
• Illinois is liable to lose one district after 2010 redistricting. (And might this seat, with a relatively new Congressman, be the most likely to end up on the chopping block?)