Before his election as mayor, Emanuel represented Illinois' 5th congressional district in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from 2003 to 2008. As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he took credit in 2006 for gaining a majority for his party the first time since 1994, when [[Newt Gingrich]] ended a 40-year consecutive Democrat majority in the House with the [[Contract with America]] campaign. | Before his election as mayor, Emanuel represented Illinois' 5th congressional district in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from 2003 to 2008. As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he took credit in 2006 for gaining a majority for his party the first time since 1994, when [[Newt Gingrich]] ended a 40-year consecutive Democrat majority in the House with the [[Contract with America]] campaign. |