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U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos announced Monday she will not run for Illinois governor next year, leaving the Democratic field without a major Downstate candidate.

The 55-year-old, three-term congresswoman from East Moline said after several months of considering a bid that she was calling supporters to say she instead will seek re-election to the House in 2018.

In an interview, Bustos called Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner "entirely beatable." She said despite big promises, Rauner had been a "disaster" with respect to job creation and had shown disregard for "people who need a little help" such as domestic-violence victims and autistic children.

A campaign for governor would have been challenging for Bustos, who is not well-known outside her district, has never run statewide and faced having to raise a sizable amount of campaign cash. On the other hand, as a Democrat from outside of Chicago, she had the potential to capture Downstate votes. That second base of support in a statewide race is part of the formula used by one of her mentors, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield.

Bustos has not endorsed a Democrat in the still-developing governor field but said she wants someone who will be a "fighter" for people all over the state, naming cities as diverse as Chicago, Moline and Carbondale.

Her decision leaves three declared Democratic candidates and several others mentioned as potentially running.

Earlier this month, Chris Kennedy, a former University of Illinois board chairman and Merchandise Mart president, kicked off his campaign with a web video and media interviews. He is the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running for the Democratic nomination for the White House, so he brings a big political family name to the race and could have considerable fundraising muscle.

Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, has announced he'll give the race a go. And Bob Daiber, a regional schools superintendent in Downstate Madison County who has little name recognition statewide, said last week that he'll run.

Chicago billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker has been touring Illinois as he mulls entering the Democratic primary for governor. A handful of other Democrats haven't said whether they'll get in, including U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, and state Sens.Daniel Biss of Evanston, Kwame Raoul of Chicago and Andy Manar of Bunker Hill.

The winner of the Democratic primary is likely to square off against Rauner, who has said he's running for a second term as his state budget battle with Democrats has dominated his first so far. The lack of a full spending plan has left the governor without many bumper-sticker-style accomplishments to tout, but he found some political success last year as the state Republican Party he largely finances helped win a handful of seats at the Capitol from Democrats.

Late last year, the governor parked $50 million in his campaign account, a deposit that GOP operatives called a "first installment" on a 2018 campaign.

Bustos won re-election in November with more than 60 percent of the vote in a district that narrowly favored Republican Donald Trump for the White House. She represents the 17th Congressional District, which takes in the Quad Cities, parts of Rockford and Peoria, and stretches of northern, central and western Illinois. The district's western border is the Mississippi River.

After the win, she was one of three lawmakers elected co-chairs of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee, which helps with strategy and communications. Bustos said the post makes her the "voice of the heartland" on a leadership team otherwise drawn "entirely from the coasts." She sits on the Agriculture Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Bustos is a former reporter for the Quad-City Times, a former hospital communications executive and a former East Moline city councilwoman. Her husband, Gerry Bustos, is Rock Island County sheriff.

kskiba@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @KatherineSkiba

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Bustos won't run for Illinois governor in 2018 ... - Chicago Tribune