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Duckworth Longshot for Senate Thanks to Durbin?

By Hunter Clauss in News on Nov 14, 2008 6:15PM

tammy_duckworth.jpgTime is ticking for Governor Rod Blagojevich to find a successor to Obama’s senate seat. The odds on Tammy Duckworth getting the spot just got worse thanks to her pal, Sen. Dick Durin. Durbin and Blagojevich are apparently not on good terms, but then again who is? Durbin has publicly chided the governor in the past over his on-going feud with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, saying he’d rather mediate Baghdad than Springfield. Durbin has said he gets plenty of complaints from Illinois residents as well as his colleagues in Washington about the gridlock in Springfield.

The Blagojevich administration might be considering Duckworth for Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s seat, which has seen a crowded amount of bids from the likes of Chicago Ald. Tom Tunney, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley, Ald. Tom Allen, Ald. Patrick O'Conner, and even state Rep.-elect Deborah Mell. Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran and head of the state’s Veteran Affairs Department, is said to be more interested in the senate spot.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, retiring state Senate President Emil Jones, and state Attorney General Lisa Madigan are also in the running for Obama’s senate seat. Each could give Blagojevich an advantage for his reelection in 2010. Gutierrez, a good friend of the guv’s from back in their days in Congress, could help Blagojevich nail down the Hispanic vote. Likewise, Jones, a close Blagojevich ally in Springfield, could help the governor secure the black vote. Madigan, the daughter of House Speaker Michael Madigan, has been pegged as a big contender for the gubernatorial race. Appointing her to the senate would be a nice way of knocking her off the ballot. If that’s the logic being used then maybe Blagojevich should appoint U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as a way of getting him off his back.

Image from the state's Veteran Affairs Dept. website