A Democratic U.S. Representative from northwest Illinois said her insistence on a local focus helped secure her seat atop the national party’s primary campaign organization.

Cheri Bustos, who represents Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, which includes Jo Daviess County, recently was named chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The organization is the official campaign arm of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“My pitch to my colleagues was, I come from a part of the country where we as Democrats need to do everything we can to win back the faith of the people,” she said. “I understand working people who are trying to do well and do right by their kids. I am trying to help them.

“(Republican President) Donald Trump won these rural places where people don’t feel like they’ve been heard. As Democrats, we’re going to have to be able to navigate that.”

Bustos credits her success to maintaining a personal presence in her communities. She has instituted programs like “Supermarket Saturdays,” through which she chats with folks in grocery stores, and “Cheri on Shift,” in which she job-shadows constituents to key in to their day-to-day lives.

“When you think of people in political office, you want to be able to see yourself,” Bustos said. “You don’t want somebody who talks down to you or acts apart from you. We have always been the party who helps working families, but I’m not sure people in the towns around us know that anymore.”

Jo Daviess County leaders in both major political parties said that feet-on-the-ground approach has worked well for Bustos.

“Everybody loves her,” said county Democratic Party President Kate Freeman. “I have done a lot of calling and talked to many people who aren’t necessarily likely to vote Democratic, but would always speak highly of her. They didn’t want any other signs in their yard, but they would put one up for Cheri.”

Even Republicans, including county GOP President Mike Dittmar, had positive things to say about Bustos.

“Cheri votes pretty moderate and votes her district,” said Dittmar. “She’s a good candidate. In all reality, it will be very hard for Republicans to beat her.”

Dittmar did say, however, that the geographic boundaries of the district work in Bustos’ favor.

“It is a drawn, gerrymandered Democratic district,” he said.

Bustos said she will best serve her party by promoting the same locally focused tactics during the 2020 campaigns that she has used in the past.

“There are 435 members of Congress,” she said. “We’re all independent practitioners. There is not a playbook on how people run their Congressional operation. There’s not anything I do that is proprietary. I will share any ideas. And these are ideas that will work for any district.”

Bustos said some of those tactics helped Democrats win as many seats as they did in 2018 elections. The party swung into the majority in the U.S. House, though the U.S. Senate and the White House remain firmly in the grasp of the GOP.

“Most of these candidates ran hyper-local campaigns,” she said. “They weren’t letting someone in Washington, D.C., tell them what they should focus on. I consider Abby Finkenauer (who was elected to represent Iowa’s 1st Congressional District) one of the best. We are physically close. The district she represents closely resembles mine. We will look for every opportunity moving forward to work together.”

Bustos also gave some credit to outgoing DCCC Chairman U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., for the 2018 successes.

“We just came off picking up 40 seats,” she said. “That was a very successful term. Obviously, we will be in a position to hang onto some very difficult seats. We just got 31 Democrats who came from districts Donald Trump won. We had 26 Democrats who lost by five points or fewer. How do we go into 2020 and try to win by five points or more?”

Of course, Bustos likely will face some competition to keep her own seat in 2020. Dittmar said a better Republican opponent could worry Bustos.

“Did the Republicans capitalize on our momentum this time? No,” he said. “A handpicked person dropped out and another person the party wasn’t wholly behind was our candidate.”