Hastert retires early
October 18th, 2007According to an AP article, Denny Hastert will step down late this year or early next year, triggering a special election. Aurora Republican Chris Lauzen leads the pack in fundraising, with more than $500K. Geneva Democrat Bill Foster leads Democrats with $400K in the bank.
In the past the 14th Congressional district was a safe Republican seat, but no longer. Elgin and Aurora have both seen a rapid increase in the number of Democratic voters, and races are now highly competitive, as was shown in the last election. Pat Perez became the first Democrat to become KC Sheriff in 20 years. Mike Noland is the first Democrat to represent Elgin in the state senate in, I think, a long time. Democrat Melissa Bean defeated a vulnerable Phil Crane, but has managed to hold onto her seat against stronger candidates.
It’s with the presidential election in mind, that Hastert will step down early. Republican leaders want to avoid the Obama fanboys that will swarm the polls in November, giving an edge to all Democratic candidates in all Illinois elections. If a Democrat wins the 14th seat, he’ll have powers of incumbency and likely hold onto it in the same way that Bean has held onto her seat. Hence the pressure on the former speaker to unceremoniously get out now.
Though the 14th Congressional district’s borders extend through Dekalb and Dixon all the way to the border with Iowa, Elgin and Aurora are the main population centers. No Elgin candidates have filed for election.
Problem with this scenario is that the governor has the authority to issue the writ of election.
I’m not even sure if he HAS to issue the writ of election. But if he does, it will not be a convenient schedule for Republicans.
Posted October 18th, 2007 at 10:32 pm“According to Dan White, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, a special election would need to be held within 120 days after Hastert’s resignation. If more than one candidate files, there would have to be a special primary election as well.
The dates for any special elections would be set by Blagojevich and can coincide with already scheduled elections. Some have speculated that Blagojevich would set the special election for Feb. 5, the date of the presidential primary, so it would reduce the cost of a special election.”
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/610880,3_1_EL19_A1HASTERT_S1.article
Posted October 19th, 2007 at 8:36 amGreat info.
It looks like the date of resignation would be timed for after Feb. 5 then. And a special election would occur within four months of that.
But then the new congressman would still need to run for re-election a few months later, in November…
So is there really any advantage?
Posted October 21st, 2007 at 2:33 pm