U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and the word “vulnerable” have been synonymous at times during his political career.

In 2008, during his first run for Congress, Foster twice faced a better-known Republican opponent whose last name was on milk bottles at the grocery store. In subsequent elections, Foster was up against an incumbent congresswoman and a veteran state legislator.

In his last election, Republicans characterized Foster as one of the nation’s most vulnerable House Democrats, who was squaring off against an acolyte of former Republican President Donald Trump.

But in each instance, Foster proved to be anything but vulnerable.

This election cycle, no one seems to be throwing around that label.

In fact, well-known congressional handicappers like The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Sabato’s Crystal Ball don’t even include the eight-term Naperville Democrat on their lists of most vulnerable incumbents.

But that hasn’t spared Foster from drawing a Democratic primary opponent from the party’s left flank — a rival who has pressed Foster to push Israel for a cease-fire in Gaza and characterized him as beholden to business interests.

Nor has it discouraged three Republicans from squaring off in the March 19 GOP primary for the right to get on the fall ballot.

At this stage of the process, though, Foster is feeling confident.

“I’m really working hard back in Washington, trying to keep the wheels on here, and doing everything I can for the people I represent,” Foster told WBEZ.

With $1.6 million in the bank as of the end of 2023, according to federal campaign records, Foster has a bigger political war chest than his four potential challengers combined. In another byproduct of incumbency, he has sewn up endorsements from a who’s who of Illinois Democrats and prominent labor groups.

Foster was also part of a meaningful policy win late last year with the reopening of the shuttered Stellantis auto plant in Belvidere, a community that partly lies within the 11th Congressional District. The United Auto Workers made reopening the plant a key part of talks to end a union strike against Stellantis and other automakers, and President Biden threw his weight behind the cause — as did state and local politicians like Gov. JB Pritzker and Foster.

“This was an emergency for the people in the northern part of my district and so I worked with everyone. It was really all hands on deck,” Foster told WBEZ.

“We went to the White House and and basically raised hell about what is going on when the president is going and doing ribbon cuttings at battery factories down in right-to-work states at the same time that Belvidere is being hung out to dry,” he said.

Foster’s primary fight

In his primary, Foster is facing Democratic immigration attorney Qasim Rashid from Naperville, who believes the incumbent is out of step with the congressional district.

“He’s extraordinarily disconnected from what the district wants and needs. Once upon a time, this was a deep red district. It’s no longer. It’s a strong Democratic district. It’s a solid Democratic district according to every political rating out there. And unfortunately, his policies are misaligned,” Rashid said.

Rashid claims the district does not want corporate money in politics, wants universal health care, takes the climate crisis seriously, and wants a cease-fire in Gaza and release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas — issues on which Rashid believes Foster falls short.

Rashid believes the vast majority of voters in the congressional district favor a cease-fire in Gaza and questions why Foster has refused to endorse that.

“I wouldn’t even call him pro-Israel as I would call him pro-war,” Rashid said. “When we talk about Israel and Palestine, it’s critical to note we want a policy that ensures safety and security for Israel and safety and security for Palestine. What’s happening right now is not safety and security for either.”

Foster said he and “essentially all Democrats” are “really unhappy with Israel’s conduct during the war.”

But, “unlike my opponent, I do believe that Israel should be allowed to retaliate against Hamas and especially its leadership. The cease-fire that my opponent supports and is insisting that I sign onto would be something that would prevent Israel from defending itself. The vast majority of Democrats and Republicans believe that,” Foster said. “I’m pretty sure he’s not where the district is.”

Rashid is a political newcomer in Illinois, though he did mount unsuccessful bids for the state Senate and Congress in Virginia when he and his family lived there in 2019 and 2020. Federal campaign records show he reported having $234,580 in his political fund at the end of last year.

He was born in Pakistan but immigrated with his family in the late 1980s to DuPage County, where he spent much of his childhood and early adult life.

“This is my home. This is where my family has been since 1988. We bought our first home here. I got married here. Our first son was born here, and this is where my family has continuously been,” he said, adding that he moved back to Illinois after the 2020 election to be closer to ailing parents.

Foster described Rashid, who has a weekly show on the SiriusXM satellite radio platform, as a “social media, carpetbagger persona” who is out of touch with voters in the 11th Congressional District.

“When you spent your career in politics in Virginia, you don’t really have a good idea of what the suburbs of Chicago are like,” Foster said.

If history is any measure, Rashid has an uphill battle in taking away the nomination from Foster. The congressman has never lost a primary during his political career, with his spread of victory over four primaries averaging more than 14 percentage points.

Republicans lined up for the 11th

On the GOP side, three Republicans are facing one another to take on either Foster or Rashid this fall.

Two ran unsuccessfully in 2022 in a primary where Trump acolyte Catalina Lauf prevailed. Lauf lost the general election to Foster by 13 percentage points.

Jerry Evans, of Warrenville, finished second to Lauf in a six-way Republican primary in 2022 and is running again.

Federal campaign records show Evans reporting $145,173 in his political fund at the close of 2023, which was more than the other two Republicans entered in the primary reported combined.

Evans’s campaign website describes him as a “Christian, husband, father, and political outsider” and founder of a school of music in the suburbs. He has made illegal immigration a focus of his campaign.

Evans has received endorsements from several state and local officials, including state Sen. Craig Wilcox, R-McHenry, and 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabine.

Geneva resident Susan Hathaway-Altman, the fourth-place finisher in the 2022 GOP primary for the 11th Congressional District, is also running again. She reported having a meager $21,950 in her campaign fund at the close of 2023.

Among known political names in the district to endorse her this time are state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, and state Sen. Donald DeWitte, R-St. Charles.

She, too, has made illegal immigration an issue, along with public safety, high taxes and political polarization.

“We’ve gotten to a point where things are way too polarized, and that’s why I feel that leadership is needed so badly in Congress right now,” she said, “and I’m that true leader out of everyone in my race.”

Bartlett resident and licensed attorney Kent Mercado is also on the Republican ballot.

He reported $11,020 in his campaign at the end of last year, federal records show.

This story has been updated to correct where Rashid was born.

Dave McKinney covers Illinois government and politics and is the former long-time Springfield bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times.