The new boundaries would make Walsh's 8th district more Democratic, and the Tea Party darling must be predicting his chances of reelection would be much slimmer. more ›

Congresswoman Melissa Bean finally conceded to her Republican opponent, Joe Walsh, in the 8th Congressional District race. After all absentee ballots were counted, Walsh's final lead over Bean was reduced to 290 votes, a gossamer-thin margin that even Bean realized she couldn't overcome with recounts. more ›

The Mayor's Office and the Office of Inspector General have differing opinions on who should monitor city hiring practices. A newly signed deal ensures Illinois is Pepsi country for the next ten years. Albertson's, the parent company that owns Jewel Food stores, is one of the supermarket companies involved in the recall of botulism-tainted French-cut green beans. When the statewide indoor smoking ban goes into effect in January, the "cigar-at-a-steakhouse" dudes might have to... more ›

In case you missed it, there was an election yesterday. Chicagoist hopes you got out and voted. And after we rocked the vote, we rocked the Daily Bar & Grill at a special election night happy hour; you should have been there. That said, it was an exciting day: The Democrats have taken the House, but the Senate is still a toss-up. And yes, that means that Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker of... more ›

Well, it's been quite a week, and it's only Wednesday! Let's jump into the Way Back Machine and have a look at some of the vitriol and invective that has plagued this fine city's political scene in the last three days: • The big news on Monday was that Barack Obama was going to run for president. Sort of. If you watch the clip, he didn't really commit to anything. Chicagoist thinks that he's playing... more ›

Now that the primaries are over, we can all take a deep breath before we look ahead to the November election. However, there are still plenty of questions that need answering. Will Stroger be on the November ballot? We all know that he is currently recovering from a stroke, but what we don’t know is just how serious his condition is, and if he will recover well enough to stay on the ballot or serve... more ›

The primary election results are in, and here are some of the candidates you will see on the ballot in the November election: Governor-Democrat: Rod Blagojevich (70.1%) This was no surprise since Eisendrath never seemed to get his campaign off the ground. We know a lot of people who voted Eisendrath as part of showing their disapproval towards Blago. Governor-Republican: Judy Baar Topinka (38.0%) Topinka held off a late surge from Oberweis, who early on... more ›

Tenth Congressional District Representative Mark Kirk is the kind of centrist legislator that, with one or two minor opinion changes, could move from Republican to Democrat - or vice versa - pretty easily. In 2001 the League of Conservation Voters rated him a 71 out of 100, and the National Taxpayers Union rated him a 59 out of 100. Pretty close to the middle, as votes go. He's a Naval Reserve Commander, and yet gained... more ›

It's the June before an election year, and that means Congressional candidate wannabes are making some hard choices about whether or not they toss their hat into the ring. Why June 2005? Because June 30 is the first important Federal Election Commission's fundraising reporting deadline. The reports, filed in July, are carefully scrutinized by political donors and party bosses across the country. If you don't have enough cheddar in the bank, you're labeled "not viable"... more ›

An open seat Congressional race is like catnip for people in politics -- and they don't come often. Only days after Congressman Henry Hyde's announcement that he will not run for reelection in 2006, one Democrat is in the race for sure, and two Republicans have officially announced their intended candidacies for the Sixth Congressional District. Of the two Republicans, State Sen. Peter Roskam of Glen Ellyn seems to be the front runner. A... more ›

Rumors were floating earlier this week, and now the Peoria Journal-Star has a couple articles that makes it almost official - Democrat Gov. Blagojevich could have his first real opponent for 2006 - Republican U.S. Congressman Ray LaHood. LaHood isn't the only name in the mix, but he's the one who's been making the most noise, and more importantly, a candidate lots of people might like. more ›

Rather than talk about how cool it is that Obama is on the cover of Newsweek this week, Chicagoist thought we'd skip the boosterism and talk about something real: Changing suburbanite voting patterns. more ›

Chicagoist reported on the Bean-Crane Eight Congressional District dust-up a couple of days ago. For some reason this weak story has managed to stay in the news cycle, and the various picayune details of a Congressional transition is getting a lot of ink. What gives? more ›

Losing political office is one of the most heart-wrenching things that can happen to you. Not only are you fired from your job, but you lose all the public adoration and press that pays attention to you. The soon-to-be-former Congressman Phil Crane (R-8) is experiencing just that pain. And he's not being too classy about it either. more ›

With Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama running unchallenged, and President George Bush essentially conceeding Illinois to Democratic challenger John Kerry, the top of the ballot this November isn't drawing a whole lot of attention. This has opened up a whole lot of possibility for races further down the ballot, like the 8th Congressional District race up in northwestern Cook, and Lake and McHenry Counties. The seat, held by Republican Rep. Phil Crane for thirty-three... more ›

Everyone in Illinois breathed out last night -- Democrats sighed relief, Republicans sighed disappointment -- as former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka announced in front of his restaurant that he was no longer planning to run for U.S. Senate as the GOP nominee. As we all suspected, it was the potential of the media dredging up his past that made him pause. "I had so many phone calls, I didn't know what was going... more ›