It was a no-brainer of a decision, even for Walsh. more ›

Switching to the 8th District sets Walsh up in a battle with the winner of the Democratic primary between Tammy Duckworth and Raja Krishnamoorthi. more ›

We may not all have the lungs to participate in the marathon, but that doesn't mean we can't participate in the excitement and some thigh-gazing. more ›

Testimony from John Harris continued for a fourth day yesterday as talk continued about then-governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama's election. According to what was caught on tape, Blago didn't think too highly of Jesse Jackson, Jr., especially in terms of the Senate seat. Jurors heard a tape during which Harris and Blago discussed a call Harris got from John Wyma, a mutual lobbyist pal between Blago and Rahm Emanuel, in which Wyma again outlined Obama's preference that Valerie Jarrett get the seat. During the call, an irritated Blago is heard saying, "They're not willing to give me anything but appreciation, fuck them." There was also a tape in which Rod discussed the idea of appointing aide Louanner Peters because if it looked like Blago was going to be impeached - it was seemingly on his mind - he could depend on Peters to step down and Blago could appoint himself to the seat. Brother Rob didn't like this idea at all. more ›

• A disturbing update to last week's NIU shooting.
• A Cook County judge rejected a motion by the Chicago Teachers Union to block the closing and consolidation of a pair of local schools.
• Tammy Duckworth has ever-so-politely withdrawn her name from consideration to run for Lt. Governor.

Valentines Day has come and gone, but the political propositioning keeps on coming in the wake of the Scott Lee Cohen balls-up and the vacancy for a Democratic candidate for the completely unnecessary Lieutenant Governor seat. more ›

Yesterday, it was announced that Illinois Veterans Affairs Department chief Tammy Duckworth is President Barack Obama's choice for the assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth, who received a Purple Heart for her service in the second Iraq War during which she sustained severe injuries including the loss of both legs, was once a Blago appointee who seems to have come away from his removal without any sort of taint. more ›

Man, this thing is a mess and it's pretty tough to sort out, logistically and legally. Here's what we know: Blagojevich still has the power to appoint the seat - as he is still governor - and there may not be much legal ground for opposition, at least from the U.S. Senate. The Trib points out:

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled the House of Representatives could not refuse to seat Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, a New York Democrat who was accused of putting his wife on the payroll and misusing travel funds to vacation in the Caribbean. Despite those charges, he was reelected by his constituents in Harlem. more ›

Time 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. more ›

Our Esteemed Governor, Rod Blagojevich, has announced a press conference this afternoon to discuss the possibility of a commission to discuss who might possibly take over for YESHECAN when he takes office in January. Rather than handicap all the possibilities for the vacant seat, here's a quick list of "maybes" and we'll leave it to you to virtually wager your digital matchsticks or Halloween candy miniatures on who's going to get the nod. Here's some of the people who've been mentioned: more ›

It wasn't just Presidential candidates that were running for nominations in yesterday's vote. A handful of local Democrats and Republicans also ran for their party's spot on the November ballot as well. more ›

Besides appointing Tammy Duckworth to the state Department of Veteran's Affairs, Rod Blagojevich has made the news again recently for some other, not-so-sexy reasons lately, too. Blago gave the boot to two East Coast law firms that had made large donations to the Governor. A third firm had been removed from the state's list of preferred law firms in May. The Sun-Times is reporting that the preferred list kept by the state (which is a... more ›

Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'! Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used 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 ›

Remember a couple weeks ago when we said it seemed like every political writer with a byline was watching the race for the 6th Congressional District? We weren't kidding. Someone with Reuters sent us this pic of Times Square that showed a poll they did in conjunction with Zogby that says Tammy Duckworth leads Peter Roskam 54% to 40% in the race to represent the 6th District of Illinois in the U.S. Congress. When... 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 ›

When Chicagoist was living abroad, discussions of American politics were often the most interesting, as well as the most embarrassing. Unlike the U.S., where many people would prefer news about Brangelina to political races around the globe (or in the States, for that matter), the global media has always taken interest in American politics. This election season, the hotly contested 6th Congressional District seat has unexpectedly become an international election favorite, with reporters from Europe,... 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 ›

That cold wind that took over the Chicago area yesterday afternoon? It was none other than Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney was in the suburbs yesterday to raise money for Peter Roskam, the 6th District Republican candidate for Congress. Roskam will face either Tammy Duckworth, Christine Cegelis, or Lindy Scott in the November election. The Democratic battle has been hard fought and well publicized nationwide, while Roskam is running unopposed in the Republican primary. The... more ›

In case you missed it last night, the big awards show was incredible. No, not that awards show. We’re talking about the awards Chicagoist gave out to politicians for outstanding achievement in campaign commercials—The Campaignys. Because none of the nominees were present, the members of the Academy of Campaign Commercial Arts and Sciences accepted their awards (cans of Sparks, a drink near and dear to our blood alcohol levels) and drank them on their behalf.... more ›

Sometimes Chicagoist likes to venture out to the burbs and remind ourselves that politics outside the city limits is just as exciting as it is the Land of Daley. more ›

Henry Hyde, 6th District Congressman since 1975, is retiring next year, and the battle to take over his seat is heating up. Democrat Christine Cegelis, pictured at right, did respectably against Hyde in 2004, and appeared to be the leading Democrat in the race to represent the rapidly changing district, which includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties. However, Rahm Emanuel, 5th District Congressman and Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has not... more ›