IL Governor's Race Begins to Form

[muon2]

I was at the big Linclon Day fundraiser in DuPage last night where a number of hopefuls for the GOP nomination were introduced. This is an important time to judge financial and endorsement support, so many are testing the waters. Those introduced last night included:

Joe Birkett (DuPage State's Atty, '02 nominee for AG)
Bill Brady (State Sen. from Bloomington)
Ron Gidwitz (former chair of the State Board of Education)
Ray LaHood (Congressman from Peoria)
Jim Oberweis (US Senate candidate in '02 and '04)
Steve Rauschenberger (State Sen. from Elgin, US Senate candidate in '04)

State Treas. Judy Barr Topinka was not present or mentioned, but has appeared at other functions in the state.

[muon2]

What would you rate Oberweiss' chances, provided he won the primary of course?

Oberweis will have difficulty in the crowded primary field. He also has to decide if he wants to run on the strong anti-immigrant message he used in the 20022004 Senate primary. That message fires up a certain base, but costs a lot of moderate support.

If he were in the general election against the incumbent, he would really need to move his image and message to one directed at real leadership, not promises and posturing. The budget's a mess and Rod continues to use short term fixes, though the rumor is that he will go after teacher pensions in this year's budget.

[muon2]

I stand corrected. Oberweis ran in both the 2002 and 2004 Senate primaries. His anti-immigrant message was from 2004.

[muon2]

Of those on the list, Ray LaHood looks like the sanest option. He represents Peoria (so he can relate to the downstate and Chicagoland exurbs), and to the best of my knoweldge, has little affiliation with the corrupt Springfield GOP machine that has made IL electorally uncompetive.

His candidacy will be interesting to watch. He has a great reputation downstate, and could do well among some traditional Democratic constituencies there. He is relatively unknown in Chicagoland, and needs to develop an image in the suburbs to be competitive.