[posted by Mike Murray]
* Sen. Burris Not Ruling Out Senate Race
Illinois Sen. Roland Burris announced last month that he would not run to retain his Senate seat next year, but in his first television interview since making that decision, Burris told ABC News he could change his mind.[…]
“You never say never,” Burris told ABC News in a “Subway Series” interview for the ABC News program “Top Line.” The “Subway Series,” which debuts on Monday, features interviews with senators and other political leaders on board the Capitol Hill subway.
“What I’m still hearing,” Burris said, is “people from all over the country and they are saying, ‘Don’t give up that seat.’”
In the name of God- why won’t this guy just go away?!?! A less electable candidate could not exist. But he is good for a laugh though: ‘from people all over the country’ - LOL, classic!
And perhaps more importantly, why is ABC News even giving Burris the air time? Must have been a slow news month.
* Press Release: Giannoulias endorsed by working families of UNITE HERE, UFCW, UA and Illinois
* So far, no GOP challengers for two key state offices
Attorney General Lisa Madigan lost a Republican opponent this past week when DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett said he wouldn’t run against the two-term Democratic incumbent.
“It has become clear to my advisors and me that it will be virtually impossible to compete financially with Lisa Madigan,” Birkett said in a statement. “It would be wrong for me to run and to ask people to contribute to a race that that is virtually unwinnable under the circumstances.”
Observers say the same could be true about a race against White, who in 2006 got almost twice as many votes as his opponent, state Sen. Dan Rutherford. And in 2002, White won every county in Illinois.
“They’ve got some problems, it seems to me, with recruiting against those two,” said John Jackson, a political scientist with Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
* And We’re … Not Off to the Races
* Jack Franks Not Being Mentioned for Governor
State Comptroller Tom Hynes announced he was going to take on an “indecisive” Governor Pat Quinn in the Democratic Party primary election Thursday.
In the ABC-TV Six O’clock News report of Hynes’ candidacy, McHenry County State Representative Jack Franks’ name was not mentioned.
African-American Metro-East State Senator James F. Clayborne, Jr., was mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate.
As I have observed before, being ignored is one of the worst things that can happen to a politician.
* Joyce may jump for lt. gov.
The February 2010 ballot may feature several names familiar to Southland residents, including state Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago) who is considering a run for lieutenant governor.[…]
Joyce also has not ruled out a run for the 3rd Congressional District, which would stack him against U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) in February’s primary. But raising money under federal guidelines is tough and time consuming.
Lieutenant governor is appealing, Joyce said, because it offers a platform to address issues. Gov. Pat Quinn used the post to support military families and advance environmental causes.
“As lieutenant governor, you have the freedom to pick your policy issues,” Joyce said. “I also think whoever the governor is could use a good person working with the legislature.”
* Peoria native will seek Illinois comptroller post
Raja Krishnamoorthi, 36, currently of Hoffman Estates, on Friday announced his intention to seek the state comptroller’s post in the 2010 primary.
No one else has officially announced plans to run for comptroller.
Current Comptroller Dan Hynes, also a Democrat, is running for governor next year.
Krishnamoorthi proposes publishing all state contracts online, “so citizens know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent and help deter some pay-to-play politics that arose in the past.”
* Word on the Street: Healthy discussion in Peoria? Maybe not
Raja Krishnamoorthi served as a volunteer adviser to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Before that, he was a senior adviser in his general election campaign for Senate and even before that worked on Obama’s 2000 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Now, Krishnamoorthi is working on his own campaign - for Illinois comptroller. He requested a brief meet up with Obama. He got it.
Krishnamoorthi said mostly the two chatted it up about his family, wife and kids.
“I was overwhelmed by the moment. He was just such a personable, affable individual,” Krishnamoorthi said.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Two poised to make run for state treasurer
KIP KIRKPATRICK, 37, of Winnetka formed a campaign committee in early June, and by the end of that month, had raised nearly $513,000, including a $100,000 loan to himself.[…]
The current Democratic state treasurer, ALEXI GIANNOULIAS, is running for U.S. Senate. His chief of staff, former state Rep. ROBIN KELLY, D-Matteson, has long said she’d run for treasurer when Giannoulias announced for another office. She’s formally kicking off her campaign Monday with events in Chicago, Normal and Peoria. Kelly went to college and graduate school in Peoria and lived there for 17 years.
Kirkpatrick is making his race official this weekend via a video to supporters, according to his campaign manager, Springfield native BRENDAN HOSTETLER, a former House Democratic staff member who is now a lobbyist living in Chicago.
Hostetler said Kirkpatrick, a partner at Water Street Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm, is making his “first foray into politics.”
* DeLay seeks 99th District House seat
Kent DeLay, a Democrat who got less than 40 percent of the vote trying to unseat state Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, in 2008, is making another run for the 99th District Illinois House seat.
“I deal with real-life issues that affect people every day, and I just don’t see things changing,” said DeLay in an interview. “I truly believe that I can make a difference in representing people in this district.”
DeLay, 44, is formally announcing his campaign at 11 a.m. today at his home, 1330 S. Lowell Ave. in Springfield.
* Jan Schakowsky endorses Julie Hamos
(YouTube Video)
* Schakowsky Endorses Hamos; Mark Kirk on Downstate Tour; Keller Grudglingly Admits Investigation Caused Him Not to Seek Re-election
* Morning Fix: Dodd Rises Again (Or Not) [10th District Poll]
Seals Far Ahead in IL-10 Survey: Dan Seals, the Democratic nominee against Rep. Mark Kirk (R) in 2006 and 2008, holds a wide lead in the 2010 Democratic primary, according to a survey done for his campaign and obtained by the Fix. Seals takes 63 percent of the vote compared to to just eight percent for state Rep. Julie Hamos and two percent for attorney Elliot Richardson in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup. The survey, which was conducted by Anzalone-Liszt Research for Seals campaign, also showed Seals — not surprisingly — as by far the best known candidate in the Democratic race with 83 percent name identification. Hamos, who won the endorsement of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) last Friday, has a meager 18 percent name identification. And, roughly two-thirds of voters agreed with the statement that Seals had earned the right to a third run for the seat while 23 percent said it was time to give someone new a chance. With Kirk leaving the 10th to run for Senate, Democrats have a very good chance of taking over this North Shore district.
* Here is the polling memo for the above mentioned 10th district poll
* Durbin pushes foe’s brother for U.S. bench
In a press release on Friday afternoon, Mr. Durbin, a Democrat, urged President Barack Obama to nominate Thomas Durkin, a civil litigator and partner at Mayer Brown here.
Mr. Durkin, who was not available for comment, certainly appears qualified. A former federal prosecutor, the DePaul University graduate recently received awards from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Justice.
What’s interesting, though, is that Mr. Durkin is the brother of state Rep. Jim Durkin, a Republican who lost to Sen. Durbin in 2002. Above and beyond that, Rep. Durkin headed the Illinois campaign of GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who of course lost last year to Chicago Democrat Barack Obama, who now will decide whether or not to select Tom Durkin for the bench.