In 1996, when Democrat Dick Durbin vacated his House seat to run for Senate, he hand-picked a successor who had the backing of the National, and State Democrat Party and the AFL-CIO. John Shimkus, however, had other plans.

Marsh Copsey worked with Shimkus the entire way, navigating a 7-way primary and then winning a difficult general election despite being outspent by a ratio of 3 to 1 in a race targeted by national Democrats.