CHICAGO - Republican chances of retaining retiring Rep. Jerry Weller's seat in Congress didn't look good for a while. | Interactive video: Create your own 11th District debate | Candidate bios

Weller had decided not to seek an eighth term amid ethics questions, then the winner of the GOP primary bailed out - leaving Democrats relishing the prospect of taking over the district that stretches from the south Chicago suburbs to the farms of Central Illinois.

But GOP leaders reinvigorated the race in April by turning to wealthy suburban concrete company owner Marty Ozinga to defend the seat against Democrat Debbie Halvorson, a high-ranking Illinois state senator, and Green Party newcomer Jason Wallace.

"My opponent was all but declaring victory, which was understandable. Without a candidate, the Republicans weren't looking good," said the 58-year-old Ozinga, president of Mokena-based Ozinga Bros., an 80-year-old family business known for its red-and-white-striped trucks.

Now Ozinga and Halvorson are locked in what both campaigns say is sure to be a tight contest.

The 11th District has been reliably Republican, but has seen some movement toward the Democrats. Voters backed President Bush in 2004, but this winter more Democrats than Republicans turned out to vote in the presidential primary when Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was on the ballot.

"It's a very much a 50-50 district; it could go either way," said Halvorson, 50, of Crete.

A state senator since 1997, Halvorson's campaign is focused on issues from affordable health care - she wants small businesses to bargain collectively for lower premiums - to the Iraq war, where the U.S. commitment is "not open-ended," according to her campaign Web site. Halvorson's stepson was recently wounded while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

Halvorson, who once worked as a cosmetics saleswoman, is counting on longtime ties to the district to convince voters she is touch with them and Ozinga is out of step.

In her first campaign ad, she talks about some of the financial struggles she faced when she was a single mother; in another ad, she accuses Ozinga of being "out of touch" with the plight of millions of uninsured Americans.

Ozinga, who lives in Will County, is running on an image as a political outsider - even using www.iamnotapolitician.com as one of his Web sites.

Still, it's not his first attempt at politics. Four years ago Ozinga interviewed, but wasn't picked, for a chance to be the replacement Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race that ultimately sent Obama to Washington.

Ozinga's top issues: Taxes, illegal immigration

Describing himself as religious and a "conservative person," Ozinga's top issues include illegal immigration and taxes. He says on his campaign Web site that he would oppose amnesty and taxpayer benefits for immigrants in the U.S. illegally. He also says he wants to lower income tax rates and make earlier tax cuts permanent.

Wallace, the third-party candidate, is a 26-year-old recent graduate of Illinois State University who lives in Normal.

All three candidates agree the faltering economy is a central issue facing the district.

"People are really worried about what's going on," said Wallace, who believes the economy would get a boost from a new energy policy that created green-collar jobs.

Ozinga touts his experience running the family business as proof of his economic credentials. He wants tax policies that encourage small business investment and the reinvestment of profits to help create more jobs.

Halvorson touts a plan for middle-class tax relief that would include letting homeowners who don't itemize deduct their property taxes from their federal income taxes and doubling a child tax credit for middle class families who earn up to $100,000, according to her Web site.

Ozinga has attempted to tie Halvorson to unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and raps her for being a leader in Illinois' Democratic-controlled state government, where fighting among Democrats and the governor has made it difficult to even pass a budget.

Halvorson has downplayed her ability to affect the Springfield gridlock even though she is the Senate majority leader and a deputy to powerful Senate President Emil Jones.

And Halvorson has criticized Ozinga for his own connection to Blagojevich: a $10,000 donation to the governor in 2005 that she called an example of "pay-to-play" politics that has dominated state ethics reform. Ozinga told the Chicago Tribune that he contributed the money so he and other concrete industry officials could meet with the governor about concerns over state construction projects.

Ozinga said he regretted giving money to Blagojevich because of his leadership style but denied the donation was ethically flawed.

Democrats are pumping money into the race for Weller's seat, hoping to win at least one of two open Republican seats in Congress from Illinois. The other seat is that of retiring GOP Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria, which state Rep. Aaron Schock, a Republican, is heavily favored to win.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent more than $610,000 in the 11th District race. Emily's list, which works to elect female Democrats who support abortion rights, also is spending money to defeat Ozinga, who has called himself a "strong pro-life person."

On the Republican side, Ozinga campaign manager Andy Sere said the conservative advocacy group Freedom's Watch has paid for an automated phone call to voters. The National Republican Congressional Committee has so far given the campaign $84,000, Sere said.

Halvorson and the Democrats also are hoping to benefit from having Obama at the top of the ticket as the home-state presidential candidate.

Ozinga said it will help him if Republican presidential candidate John McCain carries the district on Election Day, but he isn't worried.

"We're not anticipating … significant coattails one way or the other," Ozinga said.