A battleground race between newbies aiming to fill retiring U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos’ seat in Illinois’ 17th district tipped in Democrat Eric Sorensen’s favor, representing a key win for the party as it tries to maintain control of Congress.Sorenson, a meteorologist from Rockford, defeated Republican Esther Joy King, a lawyer who serves in the Army Reserve, in Tuesday’s election. The northwestern Illinois district stretches from Rockford in the north to Peoria and Bloomington in central Illinois. The …