Illinois has had its Eric Cantors. They were named Scott Lucas and Dan Rostenkowski.
Pundits are calling the House majority leader’s defeat to Tea Party candidate David Brat in Virginia’s GOP primary the biggest congressional upset in modern history.
Probably is.
But Illinois has had some pretty incredible electoral drubbings. Unlike Cantor’s debacle, the two most notable Illinois ones were in general elections, not primaries.
Back in 1950, Lucas was at the peak of his power as Democratic Senate majority leader. The Downstate Illinois Democrat had even been touted as a potential vice presidential candidate in past presidential contests.
But in November, he was unseated by GOP Rep. Everett McKinley Dirksen 54 percent to 46 percent. Lucas had made an enemy of Red-baiting Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy.
His biggest problem was closer to home. Daniel “Tubbo” Gilbert was the Democrats’ slated candidate for sheriff. Known as “the world’s richest cop,” the Chicago detective had amassed a fortune of $350,000. He told reporters it was from lucky investments.
”Nobody has anything on me,” he liked to say.
But then he testified before a Senate hearing on organized crime — and the Sun-Times got wind of his secret testimony and printed it.
“I have been a gambler at heart,” Gilbert told senators.
He said he hit the jackpot through illegal bets on sports and elections that he placed with a LaSalle Street bookie.
“I haven’t lost an election bet since 1921,” he told the senators.
He did lose the November election — so badly he brought down most of the Democratic ticket, all the way up to Lucas.
More recently, Rostenkowski was tarnished but still riding pretty high in 1994.
An 18-term congressional veteran, the Northwest Side Democrat was House Ways and Means Committee Chairman —one of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill. He’d worked with eight presidents and been on first-name basis with most of them.
But 1994 was a bad year for incumbents. Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley would be swept from office in what came to be called the Republican revolution.
And “Rosty” had troubles of his own. He was under federal indictment, charged with 17 counts of embezzlement, fraud and witness tampering. Sun-Times investigative reporters Chuck Neubauer, Mark Brown and Michael Briggs had uncovered much of the questionable activity.
On Election Day, the Democratic powerhouse lost to Republican neophyte Michael Patrick Flanagan, a struggling lawyer who had never run for office before.
Flanagan won 54 percent to 46 percent, becoming the first Republican elected to Congress from Chicago in 38 years.
He was gracious in victory.
“We owe him a hand for many years of gracious service,” Flanagan said of Rostenkowski as he declared victory at the old Bismarck Hotel.
But not all in the crowd were so kind.
“Send him to jail!” one supporter yelled.
Rostenkowski did wind up going to prison as Federal Prisoner No. 25338-016.
Flanagan served two years in Congress, losing in 1996 to an up and coming Democrat named Rod Blagojevich.
