CQ Politics

Beginning south of Chicago in suburban Will County, the 11th heads west through the old industrial city of Joliet and into farming country, with a sliver making a southward turn in LaSalle County to run parallel to Interstate 39 as it heads to Bloomington-Normal.

Will County (shared mainly with the 13th) has seen an influx of young families, and fast-growing Joliet’s proximity to the Chicago metropolitan area has helped alleviate past economic troubles there. Many visitors to Joliet come to the Harrah’s Casino and Hotel, the newly built Silver Cross Field — home to the Joliet JackHammers independent baseball team — and the Rialto Square Theatre.

Ongoing debate over construction of a third Chicago metro-area airport in Peotone, southeast of Joliet, pits residents in the 11th’s northern areas, who say a new airport would bring an economic boost to the suburbs, against rural residents, who worry it would disrupt their way of life.

South of Will, the 11th includes Kankakee County, still in the ambit of Chicagoland, before assuming a more rural posture west of those two counties as it takes in a small corner of Livingston County, all of Grundy and LaSalle counties, and most of Bureau County. A jaunt south takes it to Bloomington-Normal (shared with the 15th), which is another fast-growing metropolitan area where the population has grown 30 percent since 1990. Illinois State University is here.

The 11th remains politically competitive, although in recent years it has supported Republicans. The district handed George W. Bush 53 percent of its 2004 presidential vote.

Major Industry

Farm equipment manufacturing, agriculture, insurance

Cities

Joliet (pt.), 105,052; Normal (pt.), 30,662; Bloomington (pt.), 30,298; Kankakee, 27,491

notable

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, the first national tallgrass prairie, is in Will County; The now-closed Joliet Correctional Center is featured in the television show “Prison Break” and also was used for the opening scene of “The Blues Brothers.”