House page scandal puts Hastert's foe in spotlight

[carzen]

Early in his quixotic campaign to unseat U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, John Laesch once scheduled a day of news conferences around the 14th Congressional District to discuss his energy policy. No one showed up.

But after Hastert came under fire last week for his handling of a complaint about the suggestive electronic messages that former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) sent to an underage page, the 32-year-old Laesch found himself in the national spotlight.

As speculation mounted that Hastert might resign the speakership, attention turned to his previously unknown Democratic opponent.

A whirlwind week of national TV appearances and media interviews has given Laesch exposure he could only have dreamed of nearly a year ago when he started organizing a grass-roots campaign.


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