The federal government needs to return to governing via powers granted by the Constitution, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost said shortly after Southern Illinois voters decided Tuesday to send him back to Washington for another term in the 12th Congressional District.
"Here's the thing," Bost told a crowd of supporters in O'Fallon Tuesday night, soon after his nearest challenger, Belleville Democrat C.J. Baricevic, conceded at about 10:30 p.m. "We as House Republicans have an agenda that we sent out, and I hope each one of you have read it. It is time that we make America great again, and I believe there is a clear statement being said all over this nation tonight on what we need to do."
Doing that requires the branches of government in Washington to reclaim their powers as detailed in the Constitution, Bost said.
"Let me tell you that I believe that one of the most important things is for Congress to take control, as the Constitution says they're supposed to, and take their rights back," Bost said. "Give the president his rights to do what he needs to do under the Constitution, but let us operate this government in the way we're supposed to under that Constitution and don't vary from it."
The Murphysboro congressman successfully fended off challenges Tuesday from Baricevic and Green Party candidate Paula Bradshaw of Carbondale.
Bost served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1995 to 2015. He probably is most famous for his response to a pension overhaul bill in May 2012. When House members were allowed only 20 minutes to review and vote on a 200-page pension overhaul bill, Bost erupted on the House floor. That response later earned him the runner-up spot on CNN’s list of Best Celebrity Flip-Outs of All-Time.
The district, made up of parts of Madison County -- and all of Alexander, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Perry, Pulaski, Randolph, St. Clair, Union and Williamson counties -- is one of the most recently redistricted in Illinois. After 2011 redistricting that followed the 2010 Census, all or parts of Belleville, Cahokia, Carbondale, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Granite City, Herrin, Marion, Mount Vernon, O'Fallon, Shiloh and Swansea fell within the district boundaries.
The following year, Bost made a bid for the seat, running unopposed in the Republican primary and defeating incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. William Enyart in that year's general election. In that election, Bost took 53 percent of the vote, compared with Enyart's 42 percent -- and 6 percent garnered by Bradshaw, who ran that year as an independent candidate.
Bost won by similar margins this week. By the time 600 of 651 precincts in the district had reported Tuesday night, Bost had received 160,158 votes, a decidedly high margin over Baricevic's 106,378 votes and Bradshaw's 16,936 votes. Bost's support in St. Clair and Madison counties was especially strong. In Madison County, with all precincts reporting, Bost lead Baricevic 21,028 to 20,816. In St. Clair County with 184 of 191 precincts reporting, Bost lead Baricevic 51,559 to 47,707.
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