Free Republic

June 26, 2003 — Another multi-millionaire joined the race for the United States senate in Illinois Thursday. Republican Andy McKenna launched his campaign one day after millionaire democratic businessman Blair Hull announced his candidacy. So many candidates, with so little name recognition, but so much money to buy it. And as this new group of mega-millionaires compete to replace another rich guy, Senator Peter Fitzgerald, they bring to the political table interesting symbols of their wealth, their priorities, and their roots. The symbol of Andy McKenna's senate race is a rubber-coated horseshoe. It was invented by his great-grandfather at the...

SPRINGFIELD - Chicago businessman John Cox formally announced his candidacy for the 2004 U.S. Senate race on Monday, becoming the third conservative millionaire on the Republican campaign trail. The candidate focused much of his introductory speech on ending corruption in Illinois, on the same day the public awaited sentencing of Scott Fawell, chief architect of the licenses-for-bribes scandal in Republican George Ryan’s secretary of state office. "I want to lead a rebirth of the Illinois Republican Party around true conservative values, principles and ethics," said Cox, 47. "I’m running for the U.S. Senate to restore confidence and integrity in our...

Illinois Democrats looking to recapture retiring Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's seat have been mobilizing for months -- raising moneiy, rounding up endorsements, recruiting volunteers. Republicans, meanwhile, have had trouble even finding candidates. First Fitzgerald said he wouldn't seek a second term. Then political veterans Jim Edgar, Judy Baar Topinka and Jim Ryan bowed out. In the past month, a handful of newcomers have stepped in. With 17 months to go before Election Day, Republicans, already tainted by former GOP Gov. George Ryan's scandals, must now fight a costly, uphill battle to hold the seat. "They kind of had that head...

Little can be said for sure about the race for retiring Illinois Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's seat, one of only two open Senate contests in the country in 2004. No one has taken a clear lead. No one knows how the budget battle in Springfield will play out. And, as is the case elsewhere, no one can forecast how the war on terror or the economy will play out, either. But one thing appears clear -- the next junior senator from Illinois will be either an entrenched politician or a captain of industry. In both camps, the best funded, most...

Can the working people of Illinois afford another millionaire in the U.S. Senate? It has been five years since banking heir Peter F. Fitzgerald spent more than $14.6 million of his personal fortune for the prestige and prominence of membership in the U.S. Senate. Since Fitzgerald announced that he is stepping down, five GOP millionaires have expressed an interest in his seat: Andrew McKenna Jr., Jack Ryan, former Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood, John Cox and James Oberweis. (The Democrats also have a millionaire candidate, Blair Hull.) Where do they come from? Fitzgerald, 42, is among the least effective legislators ever...

Can the Illinois GOP compete for the U.S. Senate? It has been 63 years since a Republican, the late C. Wayland "Curley" Brooks, last won an open U.S. Senate seat in the Land of Lincoln. Next year, for the fourth time since 1980, Republicans have a chance to fill a soon-to-be vacated senatorial seat. In the previous three contests, each GOP nominee lost by pluralities of more than 500,000 votes and received about 42 percent of the overall vote. If former Gov. Jim Edgar had made the race for the seat of the retiring Peter G. Fitzgerald, he would have...