The once popular U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama is not so popular these days, now that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been accused by federal authorities in a criminal complaint of trying to auction the seat off to the highest bidder.
The once popular U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama is not so popular these days, now that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been accused by federal authorities in a criminal complaint of trying to auction the seat off to the highest bidder.
Even before Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first Black president, potential candidates were expressing their desire to replace him in the Senate, should he win. Previous contenders for the seat included corporate executive Valerie Jarrett, who will now serve as a senior adviser to Obama; U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-4th, who has decided to remain a congressman; and retiring state Senate President Emil Jones Jr., who reportedly is no longer interested.
Gutierrez said the selection process is now tainted, but he decided not to seek the senate seat because it would require him to run for re-election in 2010.
“(Previously) when I spoke with the governor, he made it clear to me that he would like to appoint someone to the Senate who would run for re-election in 2010, and I made it clear to him that my interest in serving was for only two years,” he said. “The Senate selection process has been tainted, and it is clear that we need a new process to fill the seat. I will not be a candidate in that process.”
And while there are other possible candidates, such as Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9th, and former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, political observers said U.S. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-2nd, and Danny K. Davis, D-7th, now appear to be the top contenders.
But both candidates have expressed mixed feelings about accepting the senate seat although neither one ruled the possibility out.
“Would I like to someday become a U.S. senator? Of course I would. I would be a fool not to want to join the Senate,” Davis told the Defender. “However, I would not accept the seat if Gov. Blagojevich appointed me. Too much damage has been done for me to accept it from him now.” Davis said if a special election is held to fill the seat, he is not sure he would run.
“If I were to run in a special election against other candidates, it could cause the person I want to win to lose,” he said. “There are no African American U.S. senators at this time, and for me, that is the most important thing.”
Jackson has not said either way if he would run in a special election.
Rick Bryant, a spokesman for Jackson, said, “Congressman Jackson would not accept an appointment from Gov. Blagojevich because the process has been so severely tainted. However, as state officials consider the fairest and most appropriate way to proceed with filling the vacancy, the congressman will consider his options.”
Other candidates share Jackson’s position on filling the seat.
Burris, who served as state comptroller for 12 years and attorney general for four, said he would not accept the seat if appointed by the governor but would if appointed by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Should Blagojevich resign or is impeached, Quinn would become acting governor and could then appoint someone himself.
“My fiends said I should run, but then I have other friends who said I shouldn’t run in a special election,” Burris said. “I will leave it up to the people of Illinois to decide if I should run, but I am definitely interested in the position.”
The onetime mayoral candidate, Burris, a lawyer now in private practice, became the first Black elected to a statewide office in 1978 when he was elected to his first term as comptroller.
Schakowsky echoed the same sentiments as Burris.
“Yes, I am interested, but no I would not accept the seat if appointed by Gov. Blagojevich,” she said. “As far as running in a special election, I would have to see what happens and make a decision at that time.”
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