Rep. Ken Dunkin Misses Impeachment Vote For Cruise

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 13, 2009 7:05PM

At last week's historic impeachment vote against Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the Illinois State House of Representatives, the House voted 114-1-1 in favor of impeachment. We already know Milt Patterson was the lone "no" vote and that Elga Jefferies voted "present." But that still leaves two votes unaccounted for.

One of those was Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th, Chicago). His reason? He was on a Caribbean Cruise. When asked about this fact, Dunkin defended himself, saying the trip was planned before the vote was scheduled; he arrived back home late Sunday night. While Dunkin's vote wouldn't have mattered in the long run - he claims he would have voted for the impeachment - his absence did raise eyebrows as Dunkin has been a vocal supporter of Blago. Dunkin had called the impeachment a "witch hunt" and said upon his return, "Just because other members had issues with him, doesn't mean that I share those particular issues or those particular nuances." Dunkin was officially listed as "Excused" on the roll call [PDF].

And the other Rep of the 118-member House who didn't cast a vote? It was Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr., but that's only because he was just selected to replace the recently deceased Wyvetter Younge who died in late December, and Jackson wasn't sworn in until after the impeachment vote had occurred.

Image of Rep. Dunkin from his State House page