CQ Risk Rating: Safe Democrat 
| GENERAL ELECTION: NOVEMBER 7, 2000 |
|
| Jerry F. Costello (D) | 183,208 | 100% |
| write-ins | 49 | 0% |
| PRIMARY ELECTION: MARCH 21, 2000 |
|
| | Votes | Percentage | | Democratic |
| Jerry F. Costello | 37,234 | 90% |
| Kenneth Charles Wiezer | 4,189 | 10% |
| | Republican |
| write-in | 8 | 0% |
Source: Congressional Quarterly. To suggest updates and corrections: politics.feedback@cq.com
Major Industry | Military Bases | Population | Cities | People | Race | Median Household Income | Unusual Features
ILLINOIS 12
:
Southwest - Carbondale; East St. Louis
Illinois' worst urban blight isn't in Chicago - it's 300 miles southwest
in East St. Louis, where severe white flight and industrial decay nearly
bankrupted the city. In the late 1980s, the city cut off most municipal
services, including trash collection. Federal and state intervention,
coupled with new revenue from casino gambling, restored most city services
by the mid-1990s, but residents still face high unemployment and poverty.
Other cities in the 12th also stand on precarious ground. Alton has had
to bolster its industrial base with riverboat gambling. Belleville, where
Scott Air Force Base is the largest employer, worries about defense
cutbacks. And coal mining has almost completely disappeared from the hilly,
southern end of the district. Higher education remains one of the few
steadfast employers.
The district's economic anxiety and relatively large minority population
make it solidly Democratic turf. A few corn and hog farmers in western
counties lean toward the GOP, but they are too few to sway the district.
Major Industry
Manufacturing, higher education, riverboat gambling, agriculture
Military Bases
Scott Air Force Base, 7,900 military, 4,300 civilian (1998)
Population
571,441 (1990)
Cities
Belleville, 41,608; East St. Louis, 38,595; Alton, 31,562; Granite City,
31,449 (1996)
People
60% urban; 14% age 65+ (ranks ninth of 20 in state; middle third
nationally); 54% married couples, 25% married couples with children; 14%
college educated (ranks 14 of 20 in state; bottom third nationally); 53%
white collar (ranks 15 of 20 in state; middle third nationally), 28% blue
collar (ranks eighth of 20 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)
Race
82% white, 17% black, 1% Asian; 1% Hispanic origin (1990)
Median Household Income
$25,032 (ranks 17 of 20 in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)
Unusual Features
Cahokia Mounds prehistoric civilization, a United Nations-designated World
Heritage Site; Alton-native Robert Pershing Wadlow, Guinness Book of World
Record's tallest man at 8 feet, 11.1 inches.
Source: Congressional Quarterly (Updated April 1999)
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District 12
