Posted on 07/10/2003 10:47:11 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Just seven weeks after he came from nowhere and declared, "I am in--no doubt," Downstate millionaire John Simmons again upended the U.S. Senate race Wednesday, folding his Democratic campaign and throwing his support to state Comptroller Dan Hynes.
"Dan's the man," Simmons said. "He'll do great for us."
The trial lawyer said he is pulling the plug to devote his energy to reopening a steel mill and to try to prevent a Democratic donnybrook from hurting the party's chances in 2004.
"The Democrats do not need a bloodbath in March," Simmons said. "It's not going to help us win in November."
The surprise move is an important boost for Hynes, who already has lined up the backing of southern Illinois political power Glenn Poshard and 71 of the 96 Downstate Democratic county chairmen in his quest to replace Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald.
"The endorsement of the only Downstate candidate in this race is a significant addition to the overwhelming support Dan already has," said Chris Mather, Hynes' communications director.
Simmons' candidacy threatened to turn the Democratic side of the race upside down, leaving Hynes and the five other Chicago Democrats to fight it out in the city while Simmons picked up Downstate votes. His departure leaves investor M. Blair Hull as the only Democratic millionaire in the race.
Simmons, 35, a first-time candidate from Edwardsville, planned to spent $12 million to $15 million on the primary alone. He kicked off his candidacy in a May 22 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, saying he was ready to go "100 percent, 100 miles an hour" and would "have a blast doing it."
Simmons insisted he was not pulling the plug for lack of support. But he conceded that Hynes had already wrapped up some of the support from organized labor that Simmons had been hoping for.
Other announced or potential Democratic candidates include state Sen. Barack Obama, former Chicago School Board President Gery Chico, health care executive Joyce Washington and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.
Oh shut up, wippersnapper.
Some Freeper told me he knew some guy who’s last name is Impy so I googled ‘John Impy’ and the result was this.
Look at us talk about this race like Berry wasn’t win it easy peasy!
Gery Chico and his wife Sunny, inter-partisan
” CHICAGO _ Few political opposites could say they were attracted to each other as a result of the 2000 presidential election.
Fewer still could say the 2004 election strengthened their bond.
But somehow, after butting heads in a debate on Chicago’s WTTW in 2000 _ she on behalf of George W. Bush, he on behalf of Al Gore _ Sunny Abello and Gery Chico liked each other enough to get married.
“It was our shared passion for the right thing,” Abello-Chico said.
With each passing campaign, the Chicos manage to stay united while standing on opposite sides of the partisan divide.
Bearing credentials that hit home and a range of coping ... “
I hope they’ll divorced since then....
July 11, 2003... Wish I could go back to the date of the start of this thread... :-(
Shite dude I didn’t mean to depress ya, I thought this was terribly amusing.
Sorry, today it was 5 years ago when... she... :-(
Yeah, you mentioned in your freepmail the date was coming up. I wish there was anything I could say but I don’t know jack.
Just remember all units of times are meaningless constructs. What’s a year? A trip around the sun, so what. :/
The irony is that she is where you are.
What is a year ? 365 (or 366) more days without my heart.
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