WASHINGTON – Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation up for re-election this fall have plenty of money to spend for the most part and only token opposition.

Twenty-year veteran Jerry Costello has no opposition at all and almost $1.5 million.

The Belleville Democrat won his last race in 2004 against a 28-year-old Evansville attorney, Republican Erin Renee Zweigart, with 70 percent of the vote.

This time for the general election, Costello has no active opponent, Republican or otherwise, according to the State Board of Elections.

While Costello has informed the Federal Election Commission he had $1.47 million in cash-on-hand in his campaign fund as of June 30, Zweigart could only claim having $146 and none of that was raised during the latest quarterly reporting period.

Costello, a senior Democrat on the House Transportation Committee who could become a subcommittee chairman if Democrats regain control of the House, maintains that the way to campaign is to take nothing for granted.

“When you have a two-year term, you are running for re-election almost every day,” he said Monday. “You have to prepare and plan for the race of your life.”

Others who have no history of difficult opposition in past campaigns, who have at least $1 million each in their campaign funds and who face what most consider to be easy races are GOP Reps. Mark Kirk, Jerry Weller, John Shimkus and House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Among the nine Republicans in the delegation, Kirk, a six-year officeholder who last won with 64 percent of the vote in Chicago’s affluent northwest suburbs, reported having the most in his campaign fund at the end of last month: $1.85 million.

Kirk’s opponent is Wilmette Democrat Daniel Seals, a former presidential management fellow during the Clinton administration who grew up in Chicago and has worked on Capitol Hill. Seals is one of the best-financed challengers in Illinois, but still trails badly behind Kirk in fundraising, reporting a $507,000 balance last month.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean– with almost $2.2 million- has the most cash of any delegation member or challenger. Just two years ago, she unseated 35-year veteran Rep. Phil Crane, the legendary conservative who was at that time a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House’s longest serving Republican member.

For this election, Bean has become the Republican’s No. 1 target in Illinois, since she must win on what is generally considered Republican terrain.

Her opponent, GOP businessman David McSweeney, is prepared to spend some of his personal fortune and so far has provided more than $1 million. Even so, his campaign fund had only $471,000 as of June 30, less than a fourth of Bean’s total.

Other Democratic representatives with relatively large campaign funds but who face no major challengers are Chicagoans Jesse Jackson Jr., with $1.3 million; and Rahm Emanuel, head of the House Democrats’ national campaign group, with about $1.2 million.

In a free-for-all featuring two non-incumbents, Democrat Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq combat veteran, and state Sen. Peter Roskam, are aiming to succeed GOP Rep. Henry Hyde. Roskam has $1.33 million to Duckworth’s $901,694.

At the bottom of the barrel is Rep. Bobby Rush, the 14-year House veteran and former Black Panther leader from Chicago. His fund reported having raised $386,644 over the last 18 months, but spending $517,382, leaving him with only $8,229 in cash on June 30 and debts of $30,494.

He won his last race, though, with 85 percent of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.

His GOP challenger this year, little-known Jason Tabour of Evergreen Park, had no reports on file with the Federal Election Commission.