The Illinois 8th U.S. House district is one of the more closely balanced congressional districts in the nation. In 2004 it switched from the Republicans to the Democrats, when Melissa Bean defeated long-time incumbent Philip Crane. Bean has been re-elected ever since. In 2006, Bill Scheurer formed the Moderate Party and eventually qualified as that party’s candidate for the 8th district after a long legal struggle. See this account from 2006, in which he sued the Democratic Party after the evidence showed that Democrats had tricked him into hiring a paid petitioning company that was secretly planning to sabotage his petition campaign.

For 2010, Scheurer has been planning to run again as a Green Party nominee. However, a challenge has now been filed against his petition to obtain a place on the Green Party primary ballot. Green Party activists support his candidacy, and he is the only Green attempting to run in that district. See this story.