In GOP, the scramble begins for chance to succeed Hyde

Chicago Tribune ^ | April 21, 2005 | Rick Pearson and Rudolph Bush

[RWR8189]

Leading suburban Republicans said Tuesday the decision by veteran GOP U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde to not seek re-election next year could result in a torrent of candidates vying to replace him and create a potentially costly primary contest for a seat that Democrats are likely to aggressively target.

Patrick Durante, a longtime Hyde aide who also is head of the Addison Township Republican organization, estimated a hard-fought primary contest in the 6th Congressional District could cost a contender $1 million or more to gain the name recognition and support necessary to win in March.

And for some of the candidates who have run for state and local offices where contributions are not limited, raising that kind of money could be difficult in a federal race, where individual donations are limited to $2,000.

Already, Democrat Christine Cegelis, who got 44 percent of the vote against Hyde last year, has already begun raising money for another run. Federal campaign records showed she has raised $44,263 in the first three months of the year and had $27,235 in cash on hand as of March 31, along with debts of $39,927--primarily for money she lent to her last campaign.

On the Republican side, at least four people--two current state senators, a former state representative and a former DuPage County officeholder--are indicating interest in the Republican primary race for a seat that Hyde has held since his election in 1974. And some Republicans said privately they think the numbers could multiply.

State Sen. Peter Roskam of Wheaton has long expressed interest in the seat and is viewed by some in the GOP as the leading contender. Roskam said he will make an announcement about his plans by week's end.

[mdittmar]

"Why I Joined The Constitution Party"

[rdb3]

Presidential Candidate	Party	Home State	Popular Vote(a)		Electoral Vote	Running Mate	Running Mate's Home State	Running Mate's Electoral Vote
			Count	Percentage
George W. Bush	Republican	Texas	62,040,606	50.73%	286	Richard B. Cheney	Wyoming	286
John F. Kerry	Democrat	Massachusetts	59,028,109	48.27%	251	John Edwards	North Carolina	252
John Edwards	Democrat	North Carolina	—(b)	—(b)	1
Ralph Nader	Independent, Reform	Connecticut	463,647	0.38%	0	Peter Miguel Camejo	California	0
Michael Badnarik	Libertarian	Texas	397,231	0.32%	0	Richard Campagna	Iowa	0
Michael Peroutka	Constitution	Maryland	144,489	0.12%	0	Chuck Baldwin	Florida	0
David Cobb	Green	California	119,859	0.10%	0	Patricia LaMarche	Maine	0
Other			106,755	0.08%	0	Other		0
Total			122,300,696	100%	538	Total		538
Needed to win					270	Needed to win		270

^(a) Popular vote counts are from David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/national.php?year=2004&minper=0&f=0) as of April 10, 2005. This data is not expected to change. Popular vote percentages and the total popular vote are calculated from the popular vote counts.
^(b) See "Faithless elector in Minnesota" below.

See also U.S. presidential election, 2004 (detail). For members of the 2004 United States Electoral College, see United States presidential electors, 2004.

Here's your Constitution Party vote total. 144,489 votes nationwide. It'll be a cold day in hell when the CP gets near the White House.

Now enough with the spamming, all right?

[rdb3]

RWR8189, Tom DeLay should be the odds on favorite for Speaker, right?

[mdittmar]

Spam this.

[RWR8189]

I don't think Hastert's going anywhere for awhile...

[Kuksool]

IL Freeper Ping!


The Libune is fantazing about picking up the IL-06. Considering Roskam's past relations with Tom Delay, Christine Cegelis is going to hammer Roskam with images of The Hammer. Right now, I will leaning toward either Roskam or Carole Pankau.