A western Illinois Democrat says he will challenge incumbent 15th District Republican Congressman John Shimkus next fall. John Hursey Jr of Collinsville has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run in the 15th District which does include Lawrence County. The 38 year old Hursey says he has been involved with politics all his life and has volunteered for various organizations. He also worked on the Barack Obama presidential campaign. But he has never run for political office himself. He says that his campaign to unseat Shimkus will be a long shot. The 61 year old Shimkus who is also from Collinsville has served in the U.S. House since 1997 and won over 70 percent of the vote in his most recent re-election campaign.