Judge Sets Special Senate Election

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 3, 2010 2:40PM

Everything is set for a confusing Senatorial election on November 2. Two years after then-governor Blagojevich eschewed the need for a special election and appointed Roland Burris to the "fuckin' golden" seat, the people of Illinois will finally get a chance to properly select the replacement for Barack Obama. Yesterday U.S. District Judge John Grady ruled that the candidates in the general election for the U.S. Senate seat will also be the candidates for the special election and current Sen. Roland Burris will not be allowed on the ballot for the special election. Whoever wins the special election will serve as Senator until January 3, 2011 when the winner of the general election will be sworn in. Judge Grady said the State Board of Elections must have a winner in the special election certified no later than November 24 though it could be done prior to that date, meaning we'll be bidding Burris adieu by Thanksgiving.

Grady ruled that Dem candidate Alexi Giannoulias, GOP candidate Mark Kirk, and Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones will be on both ballots. According to the Sun-Times, as many as eight other independent or small party candidates are still fighting to get on the ballot. If they make it onto the general election ballot, they'll also be included on the special election ballot. Provided voters follow conventional wisdom, selecting the same candidate on both ballots, the winner of the special election would also be the winner of the general election meaning he'll have a six-week head start on his fellow incoming senatorial freshman on The Hill.