Top of the ticket in Illinois - The Republicans

The top of the ticket in the 2010 Illinois Elections will be the Governor and the U.S. Senate seat. There are seven Republicans running for Governor and five running for the U.S. Senate. Here are some thoughts from across Illinois on these two races (the primary is on February 2nd). Dick Simpson, a former alderman who teaches political science at the University of Illinois - Chicago, articulates the key elements of the race: "February’s election is about two things: economics and ethics. The state has a budget deficit estimated at $13 billion. It can’t pay its bills. Its bonds are just above junk status." That's what this is all about - economics and ethics.

Governor

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Our choice is state Sen. Kirk Dillard, 54, a lawyer from Hinsdale. He is conservative, but not doctrinaire, and has worked effectively across the aisle on issues important to the state. Before being elected to the Senate in 1994, he was chief of staff for popular Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, who has endorsed him. He cites Mr. Edgar’s tight fiscal discipline as a model for extricating Illinois from its $12 billion budget deficit.

Dick Simpson writes in the Chicago Journal:

On the Republican side, Jim Ryan is the strongest candidate even though State Sen. Kirk Dillard would make a better governor.

The Chicago Sun-Times has endorsed Sen. Kirk Dillard:

The Chicago Sun-Times endorses Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor in the Feb. 2 Republican primary. No other candidate comes close to matching his experience in the executive and legislative branches of state government, his knowledge of the back doors of power in Springfield, and his proven ability to build cross-party coalitions without abandoning core Republican values.

U.S. Senate

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Experience, intellect and service make Mark Kirk of Highland Park the clear choice. He has represented his affluent Chicago North Shore district in the U.S. House since 2000. He is a leader among House GOP moderates and is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

...

Mr. Kirk is that increasingly rare bird, an independent Republican, conservative on defense and fiscal affairs, moderate to liberal on social issues. Historically, that places him in the mainstream of the Illinois GOP and would make him a formidable candidate in November.

Dick Simpson writes in the Chicago Journal:

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk is the smartest and most polished candidate. He deserves to win that primary.

The Chicago Sun-Times has endorsed U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk:

An effective five-term congressman from the north suburbs, Kirk has pro-growth views on the economy, a personal commitment to the military and a moderate stance on social issues that could attract independent voters who favored Democrats in recent elections. Smart and detail-orientated, he can captivate an audience with an in-depth, nuanced discussion of complicated issues such as the implications of closing the Guantanamo detention facility or an assessment of the Afghan war.

Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on either of these (or other) races.

Illinois Governor Primary

The Illinois primary election is coming up on February 2nd and there are a number of competitive races (including for Governor and U.S. Senate in both major parties). One note of interest from yesterday was the Chicago Sun Times endorsing State Sen. Kirk Dillard in the GOP primary race for Governor. In the Democratic field there are two key candidates that both currently hold statewide elected office: sitting Governor Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes.

Robin Carnahan and ballot language

Political parties are not my normal sources of information as they tend to be a bit one sided, but this is an issue that has been bothering me for a couple of years. I have seen some of the ballot summaries that have come out of the Missouri Secretary of State's office and a few have been badly biased. Whether one agrees with those issues or not, to make the process fair the summaries must be fair. Injecting politics into what should largely be a non-political office and a non-political step in the initiative process is a major problem.

"Troubling and Unfair: Robin Carnahan's Biased Ballot Language"

Illinois Senate Race Clarified This Week

The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Illinois had a number of important developments this past week. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) announced that she would not run for the U.S. Senate, nor for Governor, but would run for reelection. Also on the Democratic side, Sen. Roland Burris, who currently holds the seat after being appointed by former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich, announced that he will not run for the seat in 2010. Both of these are good news for IL Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) who has been raising money for a run at the seat. Word is that Rep. Mark Kirk (R) will run for the seat (see CQ Politics). Rep. Kirk represents a Democratic leaning district in the Chicago area. He is viewed as a strong candidate for the seat, as he is a moderate in a Democratic leaning state. He will be viewed by some in the Republican party as the best chance at picking up the seat, while being attacked by other elements of the party for his moderate stances on a number of issues. There are other Democrats and Republicans eyeing the race as well.

Rep. Icet to run for state auditor

State Representative Allen Icet (R-84) has announced that he will be running for state auditor in 2010. Icet could not run for reelection due to term limited and had filed a finance committee to explore running for the 26th state Senate seat (which will be a hotly contested Republican primary). As the House Budget Chairman Icet certainly brings experience and credibility with his candidacy. The timing is certainly interesting, though. Clearly this is something that Icet has been considering for some time, but the events of last week may have dictated the timing of his annoucement. Last week Tom Schweich decided against running against Roy Blunt in the primary for the open U.S. Senate seat in Missouri and is now considering running for state auditor. By announcing now, Icet gets into the race before anyone else and can call for party unity (a theme of last week's Republican fundraiser) behind his candidacy. Also, the buzz about Schweich feeds the importance of the story and makes it a higher profile announcement.

Schweich to run for Senate in Missouri?

Word is that Thomas A. Schweich is considering a run for the open U.S. Senate seat in Missouri. If he runs, he will be challenging Roy Blunt in the Republican primary. The Missouri media blogs have been buzzing about this over the last couple of days, including the Beacon Backroom, the Political Fix, and at least four posts at KY3. A big part of the story are the two major Missouri Republicans that are encouraging Schweich to run (former Senator Danforth and Sam Fox).

Update: Schweich has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate and is backing Roy Blunt. See KY3: "Schweich Is Out" for more detail.

Specter's switch

The big news from today is Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has announced that he is switching parties and will now be a Democrat. Specter was first elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 1980 (read the full take on it at the Washington Post).



To me the interesting element of this is the continued loss of moderates and centrists in the Republican party. There are fewer people who identify themselves are Republicans, according to recent polling, than at any point since 1983. At various points in the last decade we have heard prominent Republican moderates complain that they have been poorly treated and many have since left office. Two current Republican Senators, Olympia Snowe and Lindsey Graham echo this sentiment. In the last three years Democrats have seen a resurgence of their own moderate wing of the party, which has helped them in picking up seats in the U.S. House and Senate in 2006 and 2008, particularly in areas where the Republicans had been dominant.

Fund raising numbers due today

In addition to the fun of Tax Day, today is the day that Federal Election Commission reports and Missouri Ethics Commission reports are due for fund raising. With this being the first quarter of the new campaign cycle, this will be watched closely.

For the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri Robin Carnahan has announced her first quarter numbers, as has Roy Blunt. Carnahan raised just over $1 million, while Blunt raised $542,000. In the Illinois Senate race Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias released his numbers a few days ago, with his total at over $1 million.

In Missouri State Senate races, former Rep. Sam Page (running for Senate district 24) and Rep. Bob Dixon (running for Senate district 30) have released their numbers.

A few articles to share

Here are a few news articles worth sharing:

Sen. Engler (R) calls for study of executions in Missouri

Former Indiana Congressman (R) calls for the GOP to renounce the Bush Doctrine

Democrats split on stem-cell issues

Sen. Schmitt on the Missouri Plan and other issues

Giannoulias's releases impressive fund raising numbers for a possible 2010 Senate bid in IL

The Missouri Bar will be putting on a cool event regarding partisan nastiness in politics (the sponsoring organization)

2010 Senate Races in Missouri and Illinois

The 2010 U.S. Senate elections in Missouri and Illinois should prove to be very interesting. In Missouri Democrat Robin Carnahan (currently Secretary of State) has announced that she is running and will likely have no challenger in the primary. Republican Roy Blunt (currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 7th district) has announced that he is running as well. If these two face off it will be a showdown of two political dynasties in the state. Sarah Steelman, the Republican former State Treasurer who lost the 2008 primary for Governor, is also seriously considering entering the race. Much of the Republican establishment would prefer to avoid an ugly primary, as was the case when Ms. Steelman for Governor last year. However this plays out, it will be a very competitive race for an open seat in a swing state and will be very well funded on both sides.

The Illinois Senate race has not taken as much shape yet, but certainly looks like it will be a bit of a circuis. Current Senator Roland Burris has been the center of much controversy and will certainly have a Democratic primary opponent should he chose to run for reelection. Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer, announced this month that he was forming an exploratory committee to explore running for the Senate seat. Also, it looks like the GOP will target the seat in the 2010 election, as long as the NRSC has a candidate they like. Who would you like to see run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2010?