The coming Democratic Primary for Governor.
I don’t know who it will be, but someone is going to challenge Governor Blagojevich in the primary. Rumors abound about Lou Lang who appears to be making the rounds asking for advice as to whether to run or not. Lang has certainly spent an amount on polling that would suggest statewide ambitions in his most recent campaign finance report. Other rumors include Jeff Berkowitz’s mention in last month’s review of Cook County States Attorney Dick Devine as a possible candidate.
Dissatisfaction amongst party regulars and activists is high with the Governor and someone will likely jump in to challenge him. Blagojevich himself is trying to shore up his base by increasing ties with the African-American community including Jesse Jackson Jr. and reaching out to women voters with initiatives such as the contraceptive rule for pharmacies, increasing general access to contraception, promoting stem cell research, and banning the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors. Some see all of these initiatives as a feint to the left, but it’s mostly a highly targeted effort on issues that have widespread popular support, but especialy hit home for many women. It’s a far more centrist strategy than most realize in terms of a general election and is far craftier than many critics realize. It’s not enough to avoid a primary challenge and can be neutralized in a primary race. It does, however, provide a strong obstacle for Republicans running against him.
Runner Up 1: Strong challenger(s) emerging to Dan Lipinski in IL-03 in the primary. Lipinski was handed his seat by his father and won largely because the Machine made sure no one could effectively challenge him. In a full scale primary, the weaknesses of the Machine will be exposed and anger over nepotism will come to a boil. Lipinski doesn’t see it coming making it all the more fun to watch. Lipinski has anemic fundraising to date and doesn’t appear to have mounted a serious campaign operation other than the remnants left by his father.
Runner Up 2: The race for County Board President is getting crowded with reformers. Stroger may yet be reelected with too much of the vote split between reformers.
Runner Up 3: Dan Rutherford will announce for some statewide office. The reaction from Republicans will be fascinating.
was the Vallas residency case decided? i can’t find any news but was told a decision was due last week? any info?
“Runner Up 3: Dan Rutherford will announce for some statewide office. The reaction from Republicans will be fascinating.”
Fascinating? That’s a good thing, right?
Go Rutherford!
I think that you’re wrong on this one. I don’t think any first- or second-tier candidates will run against Governor Blagojevich. There is a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction with him, but not enough to cause a real challenge. And the more I learn about the southwest side, the less I think a serious challenge to Congressman Lipinski will emerge. There’s a culture of defence to incumbents in Illinois (and perhaps in the nation), best captured by the Sun-Times editorial that said “an election is a referendum on the incumbent’s record” before endorsing some lackluster incumbent. As unfair as that sentiment may be, I think it’s fairly strong. And it’s too bad my blog troubles popped up just as we were in the middle of a great debate over school funding! Let’s try to pick it up again in the next few weeks or so.