SPRINGFIELD - Voters in Illinois' 11th Congressional District should prepare for a fight to the finish in a race that is already drawing national attention.

Experts, political insiders, and campaign representatives all point toward a number of factors that make the election to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller one of the most hotly contested in the country.

The 11th District runs from southern Chicago west to Bureau County and south to Bloomington-Normal.

Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, and recently tapped Republican nominee Martin Ozinga III of Homer Glen are fighting for the open seat. Green Party candidate Jason Wallace of Normal also is in the mix.

The attacks are already flying.

Lance Trover, a spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party, said Halvorson is a "career politician" who "has been (Gov.) Rod Blagojevich's chief lieutenant for the past five years, pushing a failed agenda in Illinois."

The Illinois GOP, as well as Ozinga's campaign, are attempting to tie Halvorson with Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, and Blagojevich. Over the past week, the party has been accusing her of aiding Jones in political gamesmanship on issues ranging from ethics to pay raises for legislators to recall of elected officials.

Trover called the act of saying one thing and doing another "Blago-talking."

"Senator Halvorson needs to stop Blago-talking voters when it comes to ethics, (the gross receipts tax), and recall," Trover said.

Halvorson said she is prepared for a rough campaign.

"I have the thickest skin; I'm prepared for anything," Halvorson said.

From the other camp, Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the political environment in Illinois has led to the Republican Party choosing "inexperienced, unprepared, and controversial self-funders who are wildly out of touch with Illinois' struggling middle-class families."

Halvorson said she has more appeal than Ozinga, who owns concrete businesses throughout the Midwest, because voters will be able to relate to her more easily.

"They can't relate to someone who can put the kind of money that a self-funder is putting into the race," Halvorson said. "A lot of people say their ends don't meet - there were times when my ends didn't even know each other."

Mark Wrighton, chairman of the political science department at Millikin University in Decatur, said the Democrats have been emboldened by Democrat Bill Foster's win in the special election to replace retiring former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican in Illinois's 14th Congressional District, and the fact that fundraising has disproportionately favored Democrats.

"I think the trend is toward the Democrats," Wrighton said. "The money flow of the Republican National Committee and the various congressional committees are symptomatic of that."

Illinois State University political scientist Robert Bradley said the race is part of a grand strategy among Democrats that conceivably could give them an overwhelming majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Here is an opportunity, completely unexpected, for the Democrats to… create in the House a majority to override presidential vetoes if they come and basically push through a fair amount of stuff while somewhat ignoring the minority," Bradley said. "That will be absolutely huge."

Wrighton said the likelihood of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama taking the Democratic nomination for president likely will be a draw to the polls in Halvorson's favor.

"Should Senator Obama become the nominee, that's a very powerful candidate on the ballot in November, which should help the Democrats in that particular district," Wrighton said.

Ozinga became the candidate only a couple of weeks ago. Party leaders picked him to succeed New Lennox Mayor Tim Baldermann, who bowed out of the nomination shortly after he won the Feb. 5 primary.

That short time in the race means Ozinga may face a tougher battle for attention among voters, Wrighton said.

"I think the task is a little bit more difficult for Martin Ozinga, particularly coming into the race late and fighting what seems to be a national trend in these open seats," Wrighton said.

Another factor sure to make the race challenging for both contenders is the expected expense. The Chicago media market is one of the most expensive in the country, Wrighton said, and both candidates have ample reason to spend on a seat that's up for grabs.

"When you add Democrats seeing a good opportunity to the fact that Martin Ozinga needs to pump in resources to make himself known, I think you get to the point where it gets to a fairly expensive race," Wrighton said.