The Capitol Fax Blog » Seals jumps into the 10th CD race

Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009

* Democrat Dan Seals, who lost two consecutive races for the 10th Congressional District against Republican incumbent Mark Kirk, just sent out a blast e-mail to supporters…

I am writing to tell you that today I am indeed announcing my candidacy to represent the people of the 10th district.

I am running to help the families of our community get back on solid ground. I have been struck by how this economic downturn has hit people of all communities and economic strata. I will work to make healthcare and energy costs more affordable, while focusing on job growth for our community. I know that President Obama shares these values, and I look forward to the opportunity to join President Obama in working towards a brighter future for our children and our community.

You also know that I have raised the alarm about our national debt. Once we have put out this economic fire, we must put our fiscal house back in order. In the long run, if we don’t control our costs and reduce our debt, we risk not only our prosperity but that of future generations. I support President Obama’s commitment to reduce the deficits and I will work with him to achieve it.

Abroad, we must continue to engage with the world to combat global warming, support human rights, and contain belligerent regimes such as Iran and North Korea. And I will continue to be a strong ally in Israel’s quest for a sustainable and secure peace.

I look forward to talking and working with you on these and other issues in the coming months. If we can keep the focus on problem solving instead of partisanship, there’s nothing we can’t do.

Seals had less than $7,000 cash on hand at the end of the last quarter.

Discuss.

- posted by Rich Miller

35 Comments

- Ravenswood Right Winger - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 11:20 am:
3rd time lucky? Is he going to move into the district?

- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 11:21 am:
Jeebus Rich. That email just popped into my inbox.

Slow down on the caffeine. ;)

- Amy - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 11:37 am:
ugh. i don’t live in the district, but Seals is no where near good enough to get this office. if other Dems give him a pass on the primary, Republicans have a good chance to keep the spot.

- Shore - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 11:42 am:
Team America is about to have the best 17 months of his life.

- Legaleagle - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 11:59 am:
Does Seals have a real job yet?

- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:06 pm:
Shore, Mrs. Team America is not if her embarrassment over a little sign is any indication.

(Just ribbin’ ya TA)

- P. - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:16 pm:
Shore — hilarious. What’s the plan? Who’s running the show over there? Does the DCCC back another?

- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:28 pm:
Some Dem should take him on. His support is about an inch deep.

- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:39 pm:
OK - Here’s the list of unoriginal statements. How many can we find?

I am running to help the families…check
make healthcare and energy costs more affordable…check
focusing on job growth…check
President Obama shares these values…double-check!
I look forward to the opportunity…check
working towards a brighter future…check
engage with the world…check
combat global warming…check
support human rights…check
a sustainable and secure peace…check
working with you on these and other issues…check
keep the focus on problem solving instead of partisanship…check
there’s nothing we can’t do…check

Not bad for a five paragraph statement!

He forgot :(
…dolphin-safe tuna
…regardless of sexual orientation
…hybird, electric or peddle-powered cars
…reaching out to the disadvantaged
…without raising taxes
…as good as the citizens of Illinois
…good schools
…safe schools
…regardless of race
…Burr Oak
…in a bipartisan fashion
…clean safe energy independance
…non-skid surface
…supported by small businesses
…Pat The Bunny

Seals is already the retro-candidate!

- Shore - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:42 pm:
Shore is a die-hard north shore republican. In 2006 and 2007, I attended several jewish events in d.c. where a very short jay footlik, guy has to be 5′5 tops, talked peoples ears off about his national connections and ability to stomp seals and kirk. Seals destroyed him so I’m not pleased dan is back.

I look forward to a bruising and bloody battle between bond, hamos, and seals. Republicans are really ready to see how united democrats will be next year once they are in office, no longer have bush to beat around, and have to come home to news reports of the blago trial all year. The obama get out of fail free card doesn’t last forever.

- Shore - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:46 pm:
vanilla,brilliant, you forgot iran, remember big wealthy jewish population. Gotta hit the hizbollah funding iranians to look tough but not too tough so as not to alienate the peace groups.

Rob-N, now that the tribune no longer has a reporter susan kucska to cover the race for mainstream voters, and the sun-times d.c. reporter is on white house social secretary patrol it’s people like team and rich who will be the real only means of serious coverage.

- Elder - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 12:50 pm:
I predict Hamos will emerge on top. She is very, very smart, Jewish, a woman, and a tested legislative leader. I expect she will have the support of Jan Schakowsky’s fundraising and field talent.

Seals is actually a very good guy but his second run was disappointing, and he has shown no compelling reason to vote for him. “I am not Republican” is not enough.

Bonds is a newbie, and over-cautious politically to boot.

- fed up - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 1:16 pm:
Seals is a proven loser and he doesnt even make decent ice cream. It’s nice to see the GOP doesnt have a lock on all the clowns who cant get elected.

- unclesam - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 1:17 pm:
Vanilla,

You forgot the most important statement that is sure to get him elected: “and, oh look… a kitty!”

- Ghost - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 1:31 pm:
Showdown in the 10th…

Seals V Oberweiss….

Unknow green party wins the election without a canidate.

- siriusly - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 1:59 pm:
elder is right I heard Julie Hamos is getting in the race

As a former Seals backer, I am happy to hear that. I think she’ll be a great candidate.

- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 2:02 pm:
Two candidates who don’t live in the district???

Seals is a one-dimensional candidate with no depth. He couldn’t take out Kirk in the best possible Dem years. Hamos should beat him and would be a far better representative (and I’m no liberal Dem!).

Seals should really find a job and get over his delusions of grandeur.

- fedup dem - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 2:13 pm:
There is a report that Rep. Hamos plans to move into the 10th District.

- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
Shore, Susan Kucska is the Trib reporter who added quotes from Kirk supporters, sent via email, who weren’t even at events in order to help create a pro-Kirk angle for what should have been straight news stories.

Is she working for Eric Elk now?

- Ela Observer - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 3:02 pm:
So who is the savior-Republican who will retain the 10th? Andy McKenna?

- siriusly - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 3:35 pm:
Supposedly Beth Coulson is being recruited. I am sure that a Kirk-Coulson ticket will really excite the GOP base.

- View from the Cheap Seats - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:12 pm:
Coulson isn’t being recruited by anyone.

- View from the Cheap Seats - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:12 pm:
For the record, fed-up’s comment about Seals is hilarous. Nice work!

- 10th - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:17 pm:
Beth Coulson has bowed out. She was definitely the strongest candidate the Republicans could have fielded. I think this is a Democrat’s race to win, and it looks like it will be Seals v. Hamos. I don’t expect Bonds to do anything in this race. He doesn’t seem to know anything about the 10th District. Thinking out loud, Hamos doesn’t know anything about the 10th District etiher.

- 10th - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:23 pm:
Abe Froman — Seals has a job somewhere in the Loop. He rides the Metra from Wilmette downtown every day to work.

BTW: That is a tired Kirk line about Seals not having a job. Running for Congress is a full-time job. Kirk himself quit his job working for Porter in 1998 in order to run for Congress full-time.

- 10thDemBilly - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:32 pm:
Um… is everyone forgetting about Elliot Richardson? The guy raised $100,000 out of no where and is popping up at every farmer’s market and sidewalk sale I’ve been to this summer. Most of these people haven’t even declared, much less campaigned.

- Obamarama - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:43 pm:
===Showdown in the 10th…Seals V Oberweiss….===

Unfortunately Oberweis lives here in the 14th. But if you want to take him, by all means!

Pingback Jumping into IL-10 « Jesse Greenberg - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:47 pm:
[…] I think if he does run a better grassroots campaign, he can beat Hamos in a very tough battle. But looking at today’s events after Seals announced his candidacy via email, a look at his Facebook page has no announcement to about 500 supporters across several pages that he is running for Congress. That built-in network will be absolutely key to Seals’ support in the 10th and beyond. He needs that to be successful. He cannot rely on the Democratic organizations handing him supporters like they did in previous elections. Facebook is the start of grassroots outreach, and it’s a good bell-weather of a campaign at a given moment. […]

- 10th - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:49 pm:
Shore — it looks like that since Kirk has moved on, Team America has moved on too. He seems to be focused on Kirk’s Senate race now.

10thDemBilly — Elliot who? Does this guy have a media person? Because I haven’t seen anything about him in any publication, paper or digital. With Hamos, Seals and Bond in this race, I have a hard time seeing Elliot Richardson getting any traction from here on out, no matter how many farmer’s markets and sidewalk sales he goes to.

- Conservative Veteran - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 4:55 pm:
About two weeks ago, State Rep. Coulson said that she would run for re-election, but today’s issue of Roll Call states that employees of the NRCC asked her to run for Kirk’s seat. The article states that she said she’ll consider running for Congress and that she’ll announce her plans sometime within the next month.

- Shore - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 5:03 pm:
10th, I don’t think Team will abandon his roots for the senate entirely. As I told him on the blog there’s a LONG time between now and a possible Kirk re-election campaign and 2012/14 would be boring if we didn’t get a gop congressman. There’s something that just isn’t that riveting about beating Karen May or ousting Susan Garrett.

As for the Republicans who I care about most, all you need to know about how awful a chairman Andy McKenna has been and how unlikely the chances are that kirk willbe a gop savior is to look at the race to replace kirk. Democrats have 3 credible challengers and the gop is already in hail mary mode in kirk’s district with millionaires and small fish village councilpeople. GOP needs a political rockstar, not a corporate board guy to run the state party.

- Shore - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 5:07 pm:
Also the blog to watch for the coming brutal dem civil war in the battle for the nomination in the 10th is here.

She makes team America and I look like non-partisan neutral observers and is a fierce anti-Kirk, anti-republican person. Team America has a major rivalry with her that has lead to our banishment from her site.

http://ellenofthetenth.blogspot.com/

- richard afflis - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 5:35 pm:
How is Seals going to run? His only issues the last two times were his hatred of Bush and Kirk. I’m sorry, there was a third- He wants to tell anyone whatever he thinks they want to hear to become a congressman!

- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 8:56 pm:
Sort of related…I noticed driving in today, listening to the radio…that the message the Ds are sending is changing (subtle, but glaringly obvious to the trained ear, I guess). I kept hearing phrases like “Conservatives Democrats” and yes…even the “Moderates in the D Party” who are the “fiscal conservatives”.

Brought to mind someone slammin’ on this blog a while back how our “rebranding” our “new generation” of Rs wouldn’t work.

Just sayin’ and wondering what’s bringing all this on? lol

- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 21, 09 @ 9:04 pm:
Also kind of wondering whether this is “the change” that some of us were hoping for when the suggestion to run Ditka for Senate was brought up. At that point, Rs could only dream that the dysfunctional behavior of the Rs would somehow miraculously cross over to the other side of the aisle.

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