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Democratic State Sen. Donne Trotter is dropping out of the Illinois special election to succeed former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday. Trotter had been seen as a leading candidate in the race. But his campaign was hit hard earlier this month after he was arrested for trying to take a handgun through a security checkpoint O’Hare Airport in Chicago. He told police the weapon was from his job as a security guard and that he forgot about it.

Democrats can't agree on successor to Jesse Jackson Jr.By Rick Pearson Tribune reporter 5:22 p.m. CST, December 15, 2012 Democratic leaders spent four hours Saturday listening to 16 candidates audition for the party's endorsement to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., but were unable to solidify behind one contender. After 90 minutes of deliberations, South Side and south suburban committeemen voted for an “open primary,” after Thornton Township chairman Frank Zuccarelli failed to win a majority of the weighted vote on behalf of veteran state Sen. Donne Trotter of Chicago. Trotter spoke the longest and also gained the most...

This is really too easy. Imagine the hue and cry in the press and elsewhere, which to be clear would be quite appropriate, if an accurate story about a special congressional election to replace a white congressperson began as follows: "White leaders are growing increasingly worried that a black candidate might seize the seat of former Rep. ____ in the upcoming special election." Well, a story by Alex Isenstadt at Politico with a truth-obscuring headline ("Blacks fret free-for-all for Jesse Jackson Jr. seat"; the headline should be "Blacks fear a white person will win 'their' seat") clearly shows that Chicagoland's...

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will announce his resignation from Congress today in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Jackson's brother Jonathan Jackson said. He spoke to the Chicago Tribune by telephone. The congressman could not be reached for confirmation. Boehner's office also could not be immediately reached. Jackson, 47, a South Side Democrat, has been treated for bipolar depression and has been on a medical leave from Congress since June. He has been under investigation by federal authorities for alleged misuse of campaign dollars and also has faced a congressional ethics probe. Although he did not wage a campaign,...

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will announce his resignation from Congress today in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Jackson's brother Jonathan Jackson said.

<p>Sources tell FOX 32 News that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is willing to give up his 2nd Congressional District seat if he's given disability when he steps down.</p> <p>Jackson Jr. was re-elected to his tenth term but last month, sources say, he applied for a disability package--what could be his only income if he resigns. It is expected to take a couple of weeks for Congress to approve or deny the request.</p>

"Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who is battling legal troubles and mental illness, is likely to resign from Congress and face jail time under the terms of a plea deal his lawyer is negotiating with the federal government."

On Sunday, the Chicago Daily Herald, the second largest daily newspaper in metropolitan Chicago, endorsed Mitt Romney for President in 2012. In 2008, the Daily Herald endorsed hometown Senator Barack Obama for President: In endorsing Illinois’ favorite son in 2008, we declared Obama “has a chance to be a great president.” We said, “He offers a new kind of politics. A politics that breaks down the old partisan walls. A politics that strives to bring people together. A politics of hope.”... But four years later, where is the hope? Where is the confident swagger and leadership to uplift the nation’s...

Here, finally, we are. After months of seemingly endless campaigning, we arrive at the last few days of the race for the White House. After all that campaigning, many have openly wondered how anyone could still be undecided. We’re not among those who wonder. We believe the choice for president in 2012 is both difficult and profound. Whomever is elected will be trusted in large measure with the fate of a stumbling economy, a foreboding debt crisis, a gridlocked government and an unstable world. But now after weeks of debate and reflection, and a good amount of uncertainty on our...

<p>I’m just back from a breakfast downtown with members of a group of prominent Chicago blacks who informally call themselves “The Think Squad” (Thinkers, for short). What I’m about to tell you is straight from the source and uncensored…and incredibly shocking in many ways, particularly if you’re a Democrat who thinks blacks will always do what the party wants no matter what the party does to alienate blacks. The biggest unreported story in this election is the ANGER being directed at Democrats from not just the pulpits of black churches…but in the circles of black female friends who are often the “Big Mommas” to their families. These black women are furious with the Democrat Party and Barack Obama and are encouraging their families to just sit home on Election Day. Additionally, these Thinkers are now openly calling Obama “Bathhouse Barry” for the first time ever…which indicates the reports of Obama’s gay sexual activity in the sleazy Chicago bathhouse Man’s Country have saturated the electorate at this point. If “Big Mommas” are calling Obama a “punk” and a “cake boy”, it’s on like Donkey Kong, folks.</p>

I just finished slogging through a 69 page PDF by the State Budget Crisis Task Force outlining the dire state of affairs in Illinois. I knew in advance that pension funding is the biggest issue facing Illinois. The task force shows exactly that. Here is a summary. Pension Funding Levels Teachers Retirement System (TRS) - 46.1%State University Employees Retirement System (SURS) - 45.3%State Employees Retirement System (SERS) - 34.9%General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) - 20.2%Judicial Retirement System (JRS) - 31.0% Those funding levels assume 8% returns going forward, something that is not going to happen. So as bad as the...

Report: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. releases robocall, tells supporters 'I am human'By Jonathan Easley - 10/20/12 07:07 PM ET The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) sent out an automated message to constituents in his district on Saturday, asking voters to stick by him through his recent spate of difficulties. “Like many human beings, a series of events came together in my life at the same time and they have been difficult to sort through,” Jackson says in the call. “I am human. I am doing my best. I am trying to sort through them...

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who is in a world of hurt ­— medically and legally — may be returning to Mayo Clinic for treatment. A source who claims to have visited Jackson said, “Jesse is finding it difficult to continue his treatment because the press is staking out his home and making access to his doctor, incredibly hard.” “His doctors are considering sending him back to Mayo Clinic for treatment.” The source added Jackson, who is being treated for bipolar disorder during his four-month absence from work, is trying “to stay focused and calm to enhance his treatment and...

Via Sean Higgins, the Washington Post has a doozy of a story this morning about the travails of Jesse Jackson Jr. who is battling accusations of corruption as well as dealing with issues related to mental illness. While the Post's article carries a colorless headline, the revelations contained within are likely to raise some eyebrows:

In 2010, GOP candidates for federal office had a banner year in Illinois. The GOP picked up 4 House seats and a U.S. Senate seat in President Obama's adopted home-state. State party GOP candidates, fared less well, however. The state party picked up a handful of legislative seats and lost the Governor's office to Democrat Pat Quinn, Rod Blagojevich's former running-mate. As a result, Democrats controlled all levers for last year's redistricting process. They vowed to use it to reverse the GOP gains in the U.S. House. It isn't working out as planned. Years of Democrat control have taken a...

He’s being treated for bipolar disorder — a mental illness that can bring depression, mania, risky behavior and delusions. He’s had a highly publicized relationship with a “social acquaintance” that rocked his marriage. His name is repeatedly linked to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Now he’s the target of a federal investigation into “suspicious activity” into his congressional finances. What does all this mean for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s political future when the Nov. 6 election is a little more than three weeks away? “He’s going to be re-elected,” political consultant Thom Serafin said. “In this particular part of the...

Illinois is one of those areas considered by some as an “orphan state.” Barack Obama will surely win here easily with Chicago leading the parade. Like the other orphan states (California & New York) candidates in key Illinois congressional races cannot count on millions of dollars being spent to by the campaigns of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney to persuade voters to put their state in the red or blue column on magic white board election night. The congressional races are in essence the campaigns leading the parade but they are on their own. It also means that in some...

When an incumbent Democratic president is virtually tied in a congressional district he carried by high double digits in 2008, and is losing in the suburbs of his hometown, there could be trouble brewing. In August, a poll by the Joliet, Ill.-based polling firm of McKeon and Associates, found President Obama leading challenger Mitt Romney in Cook County, which includes Chicago and its suburbs, by a 12-point margin 49-37. That would seem to be a comfortable edge, but it is significantly smaller than traditional margins needed to outweigh the more Republican downstate vote... Now comes a new poll from WeAskAmerica...

Back in August, a poll showed Obama with just a 12 point lead over Romney in Cook County, Illinois. While he posted a huge lead in the city of Chicago, the poll found him actually losing to Romney in suburban Cook County. It was a shock that I set aside as an outlier. A new poll of Illinois' 10th Congressional District, which includes parts of Cook County, however, suggests the August poll might not be such an aberration. The poll, from WeAskAmerica, finds Obama with just a 2 point lead over Romney, 47-45 in the suburban district. Obama won the...

Where is Jesse Jackson Jr.?By Claudine Zap September 2,2012 His name is on the ballot. But Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. hasn't made a campaign appearance since the primary. The Democratic congressman from Chicago is running for re-election for his seat in the House of Representatives, but has been out of sight for the last three months, being treated for bipolar disorder. Campaign advisers told the New York Times, which noted that the campaign's office was locked shut, that the candidate is waiting for the doctor's approval to campaign again. The son of Rev. Jesse Jackson was expected to win the...