Special Election for IL-5

[muon2]

The letter makes it official that Emmanuel is resigning his seat. Blagojevich must now set a date for the special election (A seat that Blago held before Rahm). Here's what Lynn Sweet of the Sun-Times says about the contenders:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[muon2]

Cao is another Flanagan. You know the guy who did hold this seat.

No, I don't know. Enlighten me.

The 1994 wave was so big that the GOP actually held a Congressional seat in the city of Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Patrick_Flanagan

Oh, how I long for the days of 1994. Flanagan went down pretty hard. So sad that Cao will probably go down just as hard or even worse.

And for those that missed it, Flanagan was defeated by none other than Blagojevich. Will Cao draw a challenge with such future notoriety?

[muon2]

The election dates are set. The primary is set for Mar 3, and the general on April 7. The Gov followed the suggestions of the Cook Co Clerk and Chicago Board of Elections. April 7 is the municipal election, but it's result is not much in doubt. The letter from Emmanuel was too late to the Gov for them to use the Feb 24 suburban municipal primary date for the primary so that part of the district will have elections on consecutive Tuesdays.

[muon2]

I found a nice page on Prairie State Blue that runs down many of the top contenders.

[muon2]

The Dem committeemen failed to slate anyone for the Mar 3 primary. State Rep. John Fritchey was very close to the needed 50%+1, which suggests some solid ground troop support may be available, even if the endorsement isn't.

[muon2]

An internal poll from Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley gives a look at primary prospects. One big variable is whether or not Alderman Pat O'Connor decides to enter the race. With 55% undecided there's a lot of room for movement.

Without O'Connor:
Quigley: 19%
Feigenholtz: 11%
Fritchey: 8%

With O'Connor:
Quigley: 14%
Feigenholtz: 10%
O'Connor: 8%
Fritchey: 7%

[muon2]

Filing for the special primary closed yesterday. There are 26 candidates before challenges (the link opens a search for the full list). The challenge period runs until next Monday, then those challenges will have to be resolved. There are 15 Dems, 6 GOPs, and 5 Greens at this point.

[muon2]

Is the initial winner immediately the nominee, or is there a runoff if there's no majority?

No runoff. The top vote-getter in each party gets the nomination.

[muon2]

like 90% of the IL-5 vote is in Chicago anyways, so it's not a huge loss to hold the primary on 3/3

That's a good estimate:

In the 2008 general 202,270 votes came from Chicago, 28,622 from suburban Cook.

In the 2008 primary 86,410 votes from Chicago, 7,996 from suburban Cook.

[muon2]

The primary is now only two and a half weeks away, and even here there is remarkably little coverage. That's weird given the number of significant politicians in the race to succeed Emanuel. Since the primary is tantamount to election in IL-5, I thought that the link to the Tribune's questionnaires would give some additional background.

[muon2]

The primary is a  little over a week away. Here is the Sun Times summary of fundraising to date.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Quigley has picked up the endorsement of both the Tribune and Sun Times.

[muon2]

This thread needs to be bumpted.

I predict Fritchey (low turnout)

Early comments from precincts this morning agree with a very low turnout today.

[muon2]

Precincts Reported: 326 of 578
Mike Quigley (D)   15,181 (73.7%)
Rosanna Pulido (R)   3,948 (19.2%)
Matt Reichel (G)   1,475 (7.2%)

I believe that's from the Chicago portion of the district.

[muon2]

Precincts Reported: 326 of 578
Mike Quigley (D)   15,181 (73.7%)
Rosanna Pulido (R)   3,948 (19.2%)
Matt Reichel (G)   1,475 (7.2%)

I believe that's from the Chicago portion of the district.

I can't tell.  It's from ABC 7's webpage.  Neither the Chicago or Cook County sans Chicago elections pages have results yet.

The Trib had the same numbers but claimed they were Chicago only.

[muon2]

Clearly this is a referendum against Obama.

Clearly this is a referendum against Mike Quigley and Rosanna Pulido.

The primary and the general have been referenda against the recent tax and fee hikes by the Cook County board. Quigley had been the obvious outspoken critic in the primary, and Democrats as whole wore some generic blame (taxes along with the newest Blago indictment) in the general.