Illinois' new legislative district map, drawn by Democrats and approved by a Democratic governor, will claim at least one Republican victim for sure: Sen. Shane Cultra and state Rep. Jason Barickman plan to run for the same 53rd Senate District seat next March.

Whoever loses will be out of the Legislature for at least two years.

"It will be an interesting race," said Cultra, an Onarga Republican who was appointed to a Senate seat earlier this year after eight years in the House. "Jason's going to work hard but no one is going to out-work me."

Cultra said he's already canceled a two-week vacation in Germany that he had planned for this summer.

"I was going to visit my daughter, but I've already canceled that," he said. "I'm going to be working at this from now until March 20."

Barickman, 36, said he has "a tremendous work ethic" and would demonstrate it in the campaign.

"The race will be won based on hard work, and that's something I've practiced day-in and day-out, both for myself and for other candidates," said Barickman, who is a state representative and head of the Champaign County Republican Party.

The 53rd District is mostly new turf to both Cultra and Barickman, stretching from the Indiana state line to as far west as Eureka and Congerville in Woodford County, as far south as Bismarck in Vermilion County and as far north as Dwight in Livingston County.

But no part of the 53rd Senate District is in Champaign County.

"I'm losing all of the parts of Champaign County I had represented, plus all of Tazewell County that is in my Senate district," Cultra said. "I've got maybe 50 percent of my current Senate district.

"But it is a fairly compact district. I don't go to Champaign or to the Illinois River any more. I've got Vermilion, McLean, Ford, Iroquois, Livingston and Woodford counties. And it's very Republican. Looking at all of the other districts in the state, this could be the most Republican. If it isn't I don't know what is."

The district's overwhelming Republican nature means that the winner of the GOP primary probably will win the seat.

"There probably will be no Democratic opposition," Cultra said, "and if there is he probably won't be well funded."

But there could be more than two Republican candidates for the seat, he said.

"McLean County is about 47, 48 percent of the district," Cultra said. "I would be surprised if someone from McLean doesn't run."

Barickman did not agree.

"Not necessarily will there be someone from McLean County. I feel as though I already have a tremendous amount of support out of McLean County, from political leaders, business leaders and community leaders," said Barickman, who has a law office in Bloomington. "I have deep roots in the county based on my time at (Illinois State University)."

With two sitting Republican lawmakers running for the seat, a costly primary is likely, Cultra said.

"I'm thinking it could cost a lot of money," he said. "That's one thing I checked before I got into this race, whether I could afford it. I'll spend enough to be competitive.

"It'll be expensive because Bloomington-Normal doesn't have its own TV station. You've got to buy Peoria (stations) and Peoria isn't even in the district."

Neither Barickman nor Cultra reported a lot of money in their campaign funds on March 31. Barickman had $14,057 on hand; Cultra had $3,871. Since that time Barickman has added at least $2,000 and Cultra has acquired at least $7,000.

Cultra also has proven before that he has access to more cash if needed. When he was challenged in the February 2008 primary by Champaign school board member Dave Tomlinson, Cultra essentially ended the race by loaning his campaign $100,000 in personal funds. An underfunded Tomlinson got 27.5 percent of the vote.

This won't be the first showdown between Cultra and Barickman. Last November they competed to fill the remainder of State Treasurer Dan Rutherford's term in the Senate. Cultra won that race among area county chairmen.

But it wasn't a pleasant experience, Cultra said.

"I was disappointed in some parts of the appointment process," he said. "I don't want to get into it, but I will say that it was very negative and I hope it doesn't happen here."

Barickman, though, stressed that even as the county chairman he removed himself from the appointment process last fall "so that I could work as the candidate."

Cultra said he wants to continue to serve in the Senate even though he believes Republicans are disadvantaged by the new legislative district maps approved by Democrats.

"You just keep hoping that someday things will turn around and you can make a difference," said Cultra, 60. "I'm not sure it will happen in my lifetime. The way I look at this new map, I only see 11 districts (out of 59) where you could say we have an advantage."

Barickman said he could be effective even as a member of the minority.

"My belief is that the people in the 53rd District, my friends and family members, want to be represented by an effective, conservative leader in Springfield and that is what I am offering to them," he said. "I believe that even in the minority we can have a say in what goes on. Look at the budget that was approved this year. We reached across the aisle and came up with what I believe is a pretty good budget. I believe that I can be effective, even in the minority."