U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren told supporters late Thursday night he intends to run for re-election in the redrawn 14th Congressional District.

In a letter sent to supporters, Hultgren said the Republican cause has made great progress in the last eight months, but his work was not finished.

"Government spends, borrows and taxes too much, and millions of Americans are still out of work," his letter stated. "We owe it to our kids and grandkids to turn this around and leave them a better country than what we were given."

He said a formal announcement would come soon.

Hultgren could face U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh for the 14th District. Walsh, also a Republican, represents the 8th District now but was drawn out of that district. Walsh has not announced his intentions.

Springfield lawmakers must redraw state and congressional boundaries every 10 years following the U.S. Census. Illinois is losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to faster-growing states, bringing its total to 18 for the next decade.

Under the existing map, the 14th District stretches from the far western suburbs of Chicago almost to the border with Iowa, and it includes parts of Bureau, DeKalb, DuPage, Henry, Kane, Kendall, Lee and Whiteside counties.

It would be more compact under the new map, including parts of DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake and McHenry counties.

Because Democrats controls both houses of the General Assembly and the governor’s office, it could redraw state and congressional districts without Republican input or support.

Republicans in 2010 picked up four Illinois seats in Congress and held onto a fifth. The new map seeks to eliminate those gains by pairing Republicans against one another, stretching Democratic Chicago districts into the Republican suburbs, and pitting GOP freshmen against seasoned Democratic incumbents.