Republican Congressman Mike Bost is squaring off against Democratic challenger Julie Fortier for Illinois' 12th Congressional District seat in the November 3 election, but the two won't be sharing a debate stage. Bost has represented the district since 2015, and Fortier, an Air Force veteran and longtime O'Fallon resident, is making her first run for Congress.
According to wsiu.org, Bost is the Republican incumbent and Fortier the Democratic challenger in the midterm race for the seat. WSIU TV offered the candidates a chance to debate on air, but while Fortier appeared in the studio, Bost took part only by phone, per the station's report. Bost declined to debate Fortier in person at a candidate forum in Carbondale earlier in October, and he has said his time is better spent meeting constituents at events and at their doors rather than on a debate stage, as he told IPM Newsroom.
Bost has also said tele-town halls let him reach 5,000 people at once, according to the same IPM Newsroom report. Fortier, for her part, plans to hold in-person town halls in each of the district's 34 counties, per facts cited by St. Louis Public Radio, a stark contrast in campaign styles between the incumbent and his challenger.
A Heavily Republican District
Illinois' 12th District has voted Republican consistently since 2015, and it is rated solid Republican by electoral experts, per the seed reporting from St. Louis Public Radio. Bost has won his last two general elections since the district was redrawn in 2021, taking roughly 75% of the vote both times, according to Illinois Public Media. Bost has said he takes any opponent seriously, per the St. Louis Public Radio report, even as he enters the race with the weight of history on his side.
That history includes a bruising 2024 GOP primary against former state Sen. Darren Bailey, which Bost won comfortably, as STLPR reported at the time. Early tallies showed Bost leading by six percentage points with 81% of the vote counted, though the Associated Press later put his final margin at 2,590 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, after 96% of ballots were counted, according to Spectrum News. Bost outraised Bailey significantly, pulling in more than $2.1 million to Bailey's under $400,000 plus a $110,000 personal loan, per the STLPR account — and because the district leans so heavily Republican, that report described the primary win as tantamount to winning the general election.
Medicaid and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Fortier has criticized Bost's support for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes trillions of dollars in tax cuts and is expected to reduce Medicaid funding nationwide by $911 billion over the next 10 years, per facts cited in the seed reporting. The Congressional Budget Office estimates, per KFF research cited in that reporting, that Medicaid work requirements and other policies in the bill will increase the number of uninsured people by 10 million by 2034. Bost has denied that the legislation cuts Medicaid, telling IPM Newsroom, “we have not cut Medicaid. We only put rules in place for people,” framing the new requirements as a push toward employment and self-sufficiency.
The bill also includes the Rural Health Transformation Program, which funds state-level rural health access initiatives, according to the seed facts. Fortier argues people need affordable health care to avoid debt and supports reviving Affordable Care Act subsidies while pursuing universal health care, per the same reporting. She has also said that Americans effectively pay for the tariffs imposed by the administration themselves, telling the Daily Egyptian, “you take the tariffs, and it's almost like you're paying yourself.”
Farming, Trade and Tariffs Loom Large
Agriculture is the district's second-largest industry, and farmers are facing record-high diesel prices that are driving up both operating costs and food prices, according to the seed reporting. U.S. soybean exports to China fell from 26.8 million metric tons in 2024 to around 18 million metric tons in 2025, the Daily Egyptian reported. Bost has voted for the farm bill, which supports loans for new farmers, and has said investment in refineries closed during the Biden administration could help lower farmers' operating costs, per the seed facts.
Bost has also voiced concern that planned increases in Argentine beef imports could hurt a planned meat-processing plant in his district and squeeze local farmers' profits, telling the Daily Egyptian, “I am also very concerned because, in my district, one of the largest meat processing plants is getting ready to be built.” Fortier has opposed the recent use of tariffs more broadly, arguing farmers bear the real cost, according to the same outlet's reporting.
Veterans' Care and the War in Iran
Bost chairs the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and also sits on the House Agriculture Committee, per the Daily Egyptian's rundown of his record. He has said he will reach his leadership term limit on the Veterans' Affairs Committee next session and is considering a leadership position on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee instead, where he hopes to secure funding for rural roads and truck parking along major highways, according to the seed reporting. Bost wants more private care providers authorized to treat VA patients, especially in rural areas, though both he and Fortier oppose privatizing the Department of Veterans Affairs outright, per the same facts.
Fortier, who spent four years in the Air Force, much of it overseas in Germany, as she told Illinois Public Media, supports stronger VA staffing and broader social safety-net funding for veterans. She holds a research-pathology Ph.D. and has lived in O'Fallon for more than three decades, according to the Daily Egyptian. On foreign policy, Fortier supports a war powers resolution to rein in the administration's military action and has said the strikes in Iran raised fuel and fertilizer costs while endangering service members, per the seed facts. Bost, who joined the Marine Corps three days after the Iran hostage crisis began more than 47 years ago, has criticized the administration's war in Iran as having gone on too long.
The candidates also disagree over tax increases and the future of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Tri-State Homepage. President Donald Trump has endorsed Bost for his support of strict immigration policy and sweeping tax reform, while Progressive Democrats of America has endorsed Fortier for backing stronger sanctions on the administration, per the seed reporting. Bost has said he supported spending and tax cuts during his previous term specifically to reduce Americans' tax bills. Early voting is already underway ahead of the November 3 election, with voting having started October 1 and expanding to spots across the state by October 19, according to Axios Chicago.
