CHICAGO (CBS) – Voters in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District will decide Tuesday whether Democratic Rep. Eric Sorensen will keep his seat, or challenger Joe McGraw will return the seat to Republicans for the first time since 2012.

The 17th District does not include any part of the Chicago area, but does snake around to include Rockford, the Quad Cities, Galesburg, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal. Sorensen is in his first term representing the district, which has been in Democratic hands since 2013.

Sorensen, a meteorologist for more than 20 years before he was elected to the 17th District in 2022, is facing a challenge from McGraw, a retired judge who spent 15 years on the bench in the 17th Judicial Circuit, which includes Winnebago and Boone counties before he retired in 2017.

Sorensen has touted his limited experience as an elected official as an advantage in seeking bipartisan solutions in Congress.

“I’m one of the very few people that doesn’t have a background in politics,” Sorensen said recently. “So I can work with Republicans and Democrats to get the job done.”

McGraw, meantime, has touted his experience as a judge, as well as a trained mediator and arbitrator.

“I’ve used those skills to do reality testing with parties that are very adverse to try to figure out, what are the facts?” McGraw said recently.

This race, which could help tilt the balance of power in Congress, is focused on the same issues as numerous others. They include the issues of abortion, the economy, and immigration.

Where do Sorensen and McGraw stand on abortion?

Sorensen supports codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law, and permanently restoring a woman’s right to choose. Meantime, he also wants to protect women’s right to travel across state lines to seek safe reproductive care in Illinois.

McGraw has said he supported the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, arguing abortion is an issue that states should decide, not the federal government. He has said he would oppose a national abortion ban if it were to come up for a vote in Congress.

Where do Sorensen and McGraw stand on the economy?

Sorensen supports legislation to increase Social Security benefits for seniors, and wants to expand Medicare’s power to negotiate prescription drug prices to lower medication costs for working families and seniors. He also supports creating more “green jobs” to help address climate change, such as through increased electric vehicle production at the Rivian plant in Normal, Illinois.

McGraw has said he wants to cut taxes on American factories to create more jobs, and eliminate the federal estate tax. He also wants to reduce federal spending by restricting immigration, arguing migrants have become a drain on social services, health care, and schools.

Where do Sorensen and McGraw stand on immigration?

Sorensen has proposed legislation to add 500 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at entry points on the southern border, as well as a bill to provide increased funding, technology and staffing for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop the spread of fentanyl.

Likewise, McGraw also wants to expand the border patrol and crack down on fentanyl, but also supports expanding the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He also backs a return to the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which would require asylum seekers arriving at the southern border to stay in Mexico until an immigration court rules on their asylum claims.

A man in Illinois punched an election judge at a polling location and was arrested on Sunday, two days before the climax of the US presidential race, according to authorities.

The man, identified as 24-year-old Daniel Schmidt, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a victim over 60, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, and five misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct.

His case follows numerous attacks on the voting process and threats of violence, the purpose of which often is to create fear and distrust around voting, according to extremist experts.

Election officials across the US say voting is safe, and voters should not be deterred from casting their ballots in Tuesday’s presidential race.

In Schmidt’s case, police say they responded to reports of a man causing a disturbance in the voting line at the township office of Orland Park, Illinois.

Officers arrested Schmidt after learning that he had allegedly entered the building and attempted to cut in front of other voters in line for early voting.

An election judge at the entrance instructed Schmidt to go to the back of the line and wait his turn. But authorities say that Schmidt refused.

At that point, another election judge was called to assist, police said – and Schmidt was again instructed to go to the back of the line.

According to the police, Schmidt then attempted to push past that election judge who stopped him from entering alongside several other staff members.

Schmidt then reportedly began yelling profanities and punched the election judge in the face, knocking the official’s glasses off. At that point, several other patrons jumped in and restrained Schmidt until the officers arrived.

Authorities added that, while being arrested, Schmidt also resisted Orland Park officers.

Schmidt was held overnight on Sunday and transported to Bridgeview courthouse for a detention hearing on Monday morning.

Ahead of this year’s election, election offices around the country have strengthened their security measures in anticipation of potential violence at the polls, in part in response to a rise in threats and harassment directed at election workers after the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Trump is running in Tuesday’s election against Kamala Harris.

Many offices have also trained their workers on de-escalation techniques and conducted drills for active shooters as well as other kinds of attacks.

In the last week alone, the US has already experienced multiple attacks on the voting process, threats of violence and extremism, including bomb threats, ballots being burned and more.