SPRINGFIELD —For as long as most voters can remember, the congressional district now represented by U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria has been occupied by a Republican.

LaHood is retiring at the end of his term after 14 years in office, and he succeeded Republican Bob Michel, who served for 38 years and attained the rank of House minority leader. Michel’s predecessor also was a Republican.

So when LaHood announced his intention to retire from the 18th Congressional District last year, it was clear any Democratic challenger could face an uphill battle in trying to win the seat.

Now, on Election Day, voters will choose whether to continue GOP dominance in the central Illinois district with Republican Aaron Schock, a 27-year-old state lawmaker from Peoria.

Or, in the midst of a national trend favoring Democrats, voters could choose Democrat Colleen Callahan of Kickapoo, a longtime farm broadcaster.

Green Party candidate Sheldon Schafer of Peoria also has stayed active in the campaign.

Schock has lots of campaign cash and local Republican support. But Callahan has run a campaign sharply critical of the young lawmaker.

Bradley University political scientist Craig Curtis said the campaign has been among the more competitive for the seat.

“Colleen Callahan is much more severe as a candidate than anyone who challenged LaHood,” he said.

Callahan has used TV ads and news conferences to try to sting Schock about revelations he backdated documents for his father as a notary. And she criticized the Republican for his primary-campaign comments that the United States could sell nuclear weapons to Taiwan in order to influence China’s policies toward Iran.

Callahan runs a business doing communications consulting in Peoria.

In a debate during the campaign, she proposed reinstituting a revised version of a draft in order to rebuild the military.

Schock’s unusual political history is well-known by now. He won a write-in campaign for Peoria School Board at age 19 and ascended to become a state lawmaker at 23, unseating a Democratic incumbent. If elected, he would become the youngest member of Congress.

Mike Riopell can be contacted at (217) 789-0865 or mike.riopell@lee.net.