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The spokesman for a key national campaign committee delivered a noncommittal response Tuesday when asked if House Democrats are shopping around for a candidate to replace Christine Cegelis in the 6th Congressional District. “It’s still an open field,” said Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The comments came after Cegelis, a computer consultant from Rolling Meadows, filed a campaign finance report earlier this week that showed her with $48,973 on hand for what’s expected to be an expensive contest. Republican state Sen. Peter Roskam, on the other hand, had 10 times that amount on hand as of...

CHICAGO - On the heels of the decision by former Governor Jim Edgar not to run for Governor in 2006, State Senator Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin), a 13-year lawmaker, has emerged as perhaps the GOP's best chance to defeat incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich, according to a poll released by Zogby International. The poll, conducted from September 16-21, shows Rauschenberger with a slim 1-point margin over incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich, 41.3-40.4%. The poll also seemingly indicates that Rauschenberger provides the best head-to-head match-up with Blagojevich for the Republican party now that Edgar has decided he will not be a candidate. The Zogby...

You guys should check this group out. I met one of their members out in Ohio working with a congressional candidate. They knew what they were doing and I was impressed but i didn't realize that Alex had his own team until yesterday. I looked at their website its got some really solid ideas in terms of strategy. Check it out: http://www.vandenberg-strategies.com

Gary Skoien fired.

Conservative Republican Peter Roskam won another key hand in the west suburban 6th Congressional District contest Thursday, as former DuPage County Recorder of Deeds J.P. "Rick" Carney announced he is tossing in his cards and endorsing Roskam. "He has a desire to be a congressman more than anyone I have ever seen," Carney said of Roskam. "He has it in his blood, and I did not want to go head to head with him." The only other remaining Republican candidate, state Sen. Carole Pankau of Roselle, made no effort to downplay the significance of the development in the race to...

IN THE SPOTLIGHT -- Barrington investment banker David McSweeney will be formally announcing Saturday in Wauconda that he will be a candidate in the 2006 GOP primary to unseat Democrat U.S. Representative Melissa Bean, who defeated longtime conservative Congressman Phil Crane in the 2004 General Election. McSweeney, who describes himself as disciplined and a hard worker, completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in five years and worked for Chase Manhattan in New York for five years before returning to his home state of Illinois. In 1998 he challenged Crane in a Republican primary because, McSweeney says, he was frustrated with...

IN THE SPOTLIGHT -- Barrington investment banker David McSweeney is likely to mention his political role model and hero Ronald Reagan Saturday when he formally announces his second attempt to run for Congress in the 8th district. The 39-year old stuck his political toe into campaign waters volunteer for Reagan’s presidential campaign waters almost 25 years ago, when he was barely fifteen years old. During those same years while other kids were focused on school activities, the teenager worked afternoons with stock brokers. The youngest of four children, McSweeney was a serious student of politics and the world of high...

State Sen. Carole Pankau said Thursday that she is jumping into the race for the 6th Congressional District seat that Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde has held for more than 30 years and is retiring.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT -- On Monday, Republican State Senator Peter Roskam was joined by supporters as he formally announced his candidacy for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde. The race to replace Hyde is likely to receive national attention. U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) has suggested that Democrats will target the west suburban race as a one of their top in the nation. Roskam is one of several Republican candidates whose names were floated as potential successors to Hyde when rumors began to swirl about the 81-year-old's possible retirement earlier this year. Yesterday...

THE SPOTLIGHT -- This morning, just four blocks from the Glen Ellyn neighborhood in which he grew up, Republican State Senator Peter Roskam will formally announce his candidacy for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde. The race to replace Hyde is likely to receive national attention. U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) sees the open seat as one of the Democrats' top targets. Roskam is one of several Republican candidates whose names were floated as potential successors to Hyde when rumors began to swirl about the 81-year-old's possible retirement earlier this year. Roskam's early...

State Sen. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, will make official what he's been hinting at for weeks: He will run for Congress to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde. Roskam, the Illinois Senate Republican whip and floor leader, scheduled his announcement for 10 a.m. Monday at the Main Street Recreation Center in Glen Ellyn. Although Republican leaders have called Roskam the front-runner, he will have company on the ballot. Republicans J.P. "Rick" Carney of Wheaton, former DuPage County recorder; state Sen. Carole Pankau of Roselle; and former state Rep. Tom Johnson of West Chicago have declared or are exploring their candidacy for...

At-large Councilman John Morris is among the latest of possible contenders to make known he's exploring a run for the seat should LaHood, R-Peoria, vacate it...Other Republicans who have announced they are considering a run if LaHood moves are state Rep. David Leitch of Peoria, Sen. Larry Bomke of Springfield, Rep. Bill Mitchell of Forsyth and Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz. No Democrat contenders have officially surfaced.

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LaHood Eyeing Gubernatorial Run in Illinois By Lauren W. Whittington Roll Call Staff Wednesday, Jan. 12; 11:25am Rep. Ray LaHood, who has made a name for himself on Capitol Hill and back home in Illinois with his candor and willingness to publicly criticize fellow Republicans, will announce today he is forming a committee to explore running for governor in 2006.

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2004 US Senate Elections These are the states I am watching: Florida: I believe that Martinez will help Bush here. I think Cubans that are having doubts about Bush will support him when they vote for Martinez. I think most Hispanics would like to have Martinez representing them and that will push him past Castor. Castor comes off very old and too loyal to the “party.” And she is in real trouble when she has to explain about how she handled the “terrorist professor” when she was the president of USF. She has been around in politics for over ten...

I'm having a little trouble finding out what is REALLY happening in Alan Keyes' campaign in Illinois. Keyes would be such a huge plus not just for the Senate, but for the whole of the United States and, directly, the Free World. How is he going? Will he beat this week's leftie pinup boy?

Gannett Fails One-Newspaper Communities/Counties- Port Huron Times Herald a Queue for Government Intervention? In particular, with today’s concentration of all reporting medium with just a few companies- who determines the void or lack of reporting in the best interest to citizens. I’ve challenged a Gannett newspaper, the Times Herald of Port Huron Michigan of its obligation citizens in one-newspaper counties. There appears to be an immediate need to make certain legislation be brought requiring corporate newspapers to better report news and serving the communities they cover. At a crucial time with the 2004 Primary literally days away- this particular newspaper,...

The poll of 600 likely Republican voters in St. Clair County Michigan’s State Representative District 81 countywide found Alloway leading Pavlov by 12 points, 48 percent to 40 percent in a three-way race with Yale Republican Steve Pray Nader included in the ballot test.

Maybe the incompetent IL GOP should just sit this one out and endorse the Libertarian candidate. They're running Jerry Kohn, whose name alone will probably confuse some dems into voting for him. Also, I'm pretty sure that he'll be more conservative and electable than anyone JBT would select now (unless Poshard could somehow be convinced to leave the dark side) http://www.kohn2004.org/