Bob Dold Pulls Liberal Opponent In IL-10, But He's No Secret Agent

Bob Dold, the freshman congressman who succeeded Mark Kirk to the seat for Illinois' 10th District, knew from the moment he won that the Dems would come after him, given that the 10th is one of the most Democrat-leaning districts to be held by a Republican in the entire country. Dold has now had his first official opponent stick his head up in the as-yet undetermined 10th District for the 2012 race. His name is Ilya Sheyman (not to be confused with the fictional secret agent Illya Kuryakin from the old Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV show) and he's all of 25 years old. A former Move.org/Obama for America organizer, he's about as far left as you can get. Watch him rail against the evil Republicans, but also against Democrats who are not progessive enough for his very liberal tastes:



Here's some additional background on this guy.

Given that the boundaries lines of the 10th are not even known yet, I highly doubt that this kid is going to be the only candidate on the Dem side. Greg Hinz speculated yesterday that our old friend Lauren Beth Gash might even make another stab at the race. And of course, we can never count out the erstwhile Dan Seals, who still doesn't seem to have anything better to do that continue to try, try, try again, for this seat. Assuming that Mr. Sheyman sticks in the race through the primary, it will be fun to see the Dem primary candidates try to run to the left of this guy... which may not be possible... and then try to pivot to the center in the general.

The good news is, that if Mr. Sheyman turned out to be the Dem nominee, the independent-minded 10th District is going to have a hard time swallowing Sheyman's fire-breathing liberalism, especially in the face of Bob Dold's centrist views.

Looks like the fun is beginning, campers...

Below: NOT Ilya Sheyman