And here we thought everything was all wrapped up in a nice, neat little package for that chaotic vote for U.S. Senate in this November's general election. To review: a high court ruled that Sen. Burris should never have been appointed in the first place but rather that position - vacated by Barack Obama when he won the 2008 Presidential election - should have been filled by special election. So that's what we'll have ... two years late. You'll vote twice for Senator on November 2: once for a temporary senator who will serve until the new Congress is sworn in in January and once for, well, the permanent senator. So it's very likely that Mark Kirk or Alexi Giannoulias will become senator on November 3. Unless something crazy happens and they split the vote. Point is, poor ol' Roland was left off the ballot altogether meaning he'd be done as senator come Election Day. But Roland - who chose not to run - is none too pleased about this and is now appealing to the Supreme Court to let him serve those remaining weeks between Election Day and the new Congress. more ›

Sure, Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk are duking it out for that Senate seat, but might another person take the seat before them, ousting Roland Burris early? That seems a possibility based on a recent decision by a federal judge. Garrett Epps takes a closer look at the 17th Amendment over at The Atlantic and explores how the Blago/Burris appointment fits into the scheme of things. more ›

A day after the leading Republican candidate, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, the leading Democratic candidate is preparing to follow suit. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will formally announce his bid on Sunday. The move is hardly a surprise as Giannoulias had formally formed an exploratory committee to look into running and he became his party's front-runner when Attorney General Lisa Madigan chose not to run for the office. His exploratory committee has already raised $1.8 million for the run. [Trib's Clout Street] more ›

In spite of some serious financial woes, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris is still trying to raise money for a potential re-election bid in 2010 and says he'll make a decision on that race soon. Burris held his first fundraiser yesterday here in Chicago but the money he pulled from that event will go towards paying off his $111,000 in debt he's racked up so far since taking over the U.S. Senate seat once held by now-President Barack Obama. One aide told the Tribune they hope to have raised about $50,000 from yesterday's event. But there's even more debt for Burris as he claims he's also dug himself a $500,000 hole in legal fees. more ›

The Lord's Senator Roland Burris spoke to the press Monday night in Peoria, and what an event it was. In a nutshell, he says he told Rod Blagojevich's brother Rob that he would raise money for him, asked some people to help out, found out nobody was interested, and then told the brothers Blago that he couldn't do it, since he was seeking the senate seat himself. "So sometime shortly after Obama was elected, the brother called and I had talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser on," Burris said. But the Chicago Public Radio Blog brings us the best bit of his statements, adding "He started talking…and talking…and talking…and talking…then contradicting…then back to talking about his involvement. The clip that the newspapers pulled doesn’t give it justice. This gives it justice." more ›