Race to Replace Rahm: O'Connor Pulling Ahead

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Jan 6, 2009 8:20PM

Now that we've said farewell to Rahm and set the date for elections to replace him, it's time for speculation on who will take the reins in the 5th congressional district, the former seat of our beloved Governor. The field is crowded now with counts of as many as 18 people running, but Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) appears to be pulling ahead of the pack, since he is poised to receive the critical Democratic Party endorsement after Ald. Tom Allen (38th) dropped out, citing his desire to remain on the City Council: "My passion is more on the local level of government and helping people in the neighborhood...It's not a money factor [tied to a lingering debt from his campaign for state's attorney]. It's merely that I can accomplish more in the job I'm doing right now."

O'Connor has been representing the 40th ward for 26 years now and is considered "Mayor Daley's unofficial City Council floor leader." However, he'll still need to garner the party's full support at a vote in a few weeks.

Ald. William Banks (36th) said Monday he will convene the slatemaking session in two or three weeks, giving a field that once included 22 candidates a last chance to narrow.

"Whoever has the weighted vote becomes the candidate of the party. If nobody does, it becomes an open primary," Banks said.

"Right now, it seems to be fairly fragmented. If it stays every man for himself, virtually anybody could get elected...It could be somebody totally unrepresentative of the district. That would be unfortunate."

This contradicts a report in The Hill, a beltway-produced political rag, which identified three "front-runners" last week, none of whom were O'Connor. They were State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley and former Transportation Security Administration official Justin Oberman. However, the list of candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring is considerably longer. The Chicago Journal has a pretty nice rundown of the major candidates including campaign websites.

Photo of Ald. O'Connor's empty seat by Sam Abernethy