As the 2006 election approaches, and as the Sept. 20 date to begin circulating nominating petitions looms, all remains quiet on the Northwest Side front.

Of the diverse group of area state representatives, which includes suburbanites Lou Lang (D-16) of Skokie, Beth Coulson (R-17) of Glenview and Rosemary Mulligan (R-65) of Des Plaines, as well as Chicagoans Joe Lyons (D-19), Mike McAuliffe (R-20), John D'Amico (D-15), John Fritchey (D-11) and Rich Bradley (D-40), none is in any serious electoral jeopardy in 2006.

As can be discerned from the adjoining vote chart, all of the legislators voted in lock step with their party on fiscal issues. McAuliffe, Coulson and Mulligan voted against the 2006 budget submitted by Governor Rod Blagojevich, while the local Democrats supported it. But there was significant divergence on a few social issues. On an ideological spectrum, McAuliffe is the most conservative, while Bradley, Lang and Fritchey are the most uniformly liberal. Lyons and D'Amico are somewhat conservative on social issues, while Mulligan and Coulson are liberal on social issues.

Each incumbent is politically astute, and each is a good fit for his or her respective district. None is likely to be beaten in 2006. Here's a look at the voting records and political prospects of each:

* McAuliffe, age 41, is ready to catch a break. He was appointed to his seat in 1996 after the death of his father, and he won his first full term in the fall by just 1,895 votes, getting 52.4 percent of the total. After easy re-elections in 1998 and 2000, McAuliffe found himself remapped into a Democratic-friendly district, and he faced a fellow incumbent, Democrat Bob Bugielski, in 2002. McAuliffe out-campaigned and out-spent Bugielski and won by 2,583 votes, with 53.7 percent of the votes cast. In 2004 the supposedly popular 34-year incumbent Democrat Ralph Capparelli moved into the district to run against McAuliffe, but the energetic Republican again triumphed, this time by a thumping 7,687-vote margin (59.2 percent). No Democrat of any stature is poised to challenge McAuliffe in 2006.

On issues, McAuliffe is a fiscal and social conservative, opposing abortion and occasionally backing gun owners' rights. But he supports of expanding gaming and is in favor of a Rosemont casino. In 2005 he backed a bill requiring temporary gun show receipt cards to be destroyed, supported medical malpractice caps, backed a gaming tax rollback and opposed a smoking ban.

* Coulson, age 50, was thought to be toast in 2004. After winning her fourth term in the redistricted 17th District in 2002 by just 666 votes, getting just 50.9 percent of the total, Coulson was targeted for extinction in 2004 by both local and Springfield Democrats.

But her Democratic foe, Michele Bromberg, a Skokie trustee who Democrats thought fit the district's "demographic" (meaning a liberal Jewish woman), ran an inept campaign, attacking Coulson for the "sin" of being a Republican and failing to give voters a salient reason to oust their moderately liberal incumbent. Coulson won by 3,849 votes (54 percent). During 2005 Coulson voted the party line on all fiscal votes, opposing increases in education and social services funding. That could give an opening to a Democrat in 2006, but none seems yet interested.

* D'Amico, age 42, won his first term in 2004, succeeding Capparelli. He beat Republican Bill Miceli by 12,676 votes (66.8 percent). D'Amico is the nephew of 39th Ward Alderman Marge Laurino and the grandson of the late Alderman Tony Laurino. Miceli's campaign emphasized that both of D'Amico's parents were convicted of being ghost payrollers and that D'Amico was a city payroller himself.

But now D'Amico's lineage is ancient history, and he will be judged on his legislative performance. He backed the Democratic House majority on fiscal issues, supported gun control and opposed medical malpractice reforms, but he did stray twice, on death penalty reforms and smoking bans. He is utterly safe in 2006.

* Lyons, age 54, is now part of the Democratic leadership, as one of six assistant majority leaders, taking Capparelli's spot, which is accorded a Northwest Side Chicagoan. He opposes abortion and gay marriages, but he is otherwise a reliable Democratic vote. He was re-elected in 2004 by 17,755 votes, getting 77.8 percent of the total, and he was unopposed in 2002. He intends to stay in Springfield for another decade or two.

* Lang, age 55, also an assistant majority leader, is pondering a run for governor in 2006, and he is not hesitant to criticize Blagojevich. Lang is a champion of gaming interests and riverboat expansion, and he wants to use the revenue to augment education funding. He won with 77 percent of the vote in 2004 and with 76 percent in 2002. If he retires, a Democrat will win the seat, but not before a brutal primary between a candidate from Skokie and a candidate from the West Rogers Park 50th Ward.

* Fritchey, age 41, is ambitious, articulate and eager to move on to greener pastures. He wanted to run for 32nd Ward Democratic committeeman in 2004, to give himself a more formidable political power base, but retiring incumbent Terry Gabinski objected, promptly unretired, and announced for re-election. Fritchey then withdrew. Fritchey was re-elected with 72 percent of the vote in 2004 and with 87 percent in 2002. He can keep his seat for a lifetime if he chooses, but, according to insiders, he is exploring two potential races: for mayor in 2007 if Rich Daley retires or for state attorney general in 2010 if Lisa Madigan runs for governor. On legislative votes, Fritchey is a consistent liberal.

* Mulligan, age 64, could have retiring state Senator Dave Sullivan's (R-33) seat for the asking or the taking, but she doesn't want to give up her 14 years of House seniority at her age to be a junior, minority member of the Illinois Senate. Springfield Democrats poured in resources to beat Mulligan in 2002, but she triumphed by 6,150 votes (60.7 percent); in 2004 she won by 12,165 votes (65.9 percent). Mulligan votes with the House Republican minority on all fiscal matters, but she does deviate on social issues -- backing abortion rights, gay rights and gun control. Mulligan has entrenched herself, and she is utterly safe.

* Bradley, age 50, is a lifetime city payroller who is teetering on the edge of a political precipice. He collects salaries from both the legislature and the City of Chicago government (as an assistant general superintendent in the Department of Streets and Sanitation), and he represents a House district that is 47 percent Hispanic. Bradley is a dependable liberal on fiscal and social issues, but some time this decade, although probably not in 2006, he will face a formidable Hispanic Democrat who will take the seat.