Posted on 05/14/2003 12:08:59 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Former Attorney General Jim Ryan said Tuesday he will not run for the U.S. Senate--making him the fourth major Republican to opt out of the high-profile race in less than a week.
The former GOP gubernatorial nominee's decision came as four wealthy Republicans moved closer to joining the contest to succeed Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald (R-Ill.).
North Shore businessman Andy McKenna Jr. said he will file the paperwork for a fund-raising committee today. Former investment banker Jack Ryan said he will issue a statement about his plans. Gold Coast accountant and lawyer John Cox said he is 95 percent sure he will run, and dairy and investment magnate Jim Oberweis announced plans for his own exploratory committee--pledging to put in more than $1 million of his own money into the race, if he runs.
Jim Ryan, 57, said he discussed a Senate run with his wife but decided he would rather continue practicing law and teaching at Benedictine University.
"Marie and I pretty much decided I'm not going to run," Ryan said. "I just decided that I'm not going to do that right now."
Other Republicans who have taken a pass on running in recent days include former Gov. Jim Edgar, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller.
Oberweis, 56, of Aurora, said Edgar's decision prompted him to form an exploratory committee to test the waters for his own bid. He said he will decide whether to make the run after discussions with party leaders. He declined to say how much of his fortune he would put in the race but said it would be more than $1 million.
"I will clearly be willing to commit a seven-figure number," he said.
Oberweis came in second with 31.5 percent of the vote in last year's Republican Senate primary, won by Jim Durkin. The third-place candidate was Cox, who is also eyeing a comeback.
Cox, 47, said he would put some of his own money in, but it would be "much less than" $1 million.
"I'm not going to totally self-fund a campaign by any stretch of the imagination," Cox said.
McKenna, 46, a Glenview resident and president of the Schwarz Paper Co., refused to say whether he would put any of his own money into the race. But he said he is beyond the exploratory phase and is ready to go.
"We're going to make a formal announcement in a couple of weeks," McKenna said.
Jack Ryan, 43, of Wilmette, is expected to announce he is taking a preliminary look at running after declining to in the 2002 contest. He said he would not entirely self-finance his campaign if he runs but would use some of his riches as seed money.
Wealthy candidates are taken seriously by the National Republican Senatorial Committee for their ability to pour millions of dollars of their own money into the race. But under new campaign finance laws, when millionaires use a certain amount of their own money, other candidates in the race enjoy looser limits on their own fund-raising.
Former state Rep. Durkin, 42, the Westchester Republican who beat Cox and Oberweis in last year's primary, said he would make the run only if he gets financial help from the National Republican Senatorial Committee--funding that was lacking in his unsuccessful challenge of Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin.
"I'm not a millionaire, and it requires the blessings of Washington to make this competitive," Durkin said. "And I'm not sure where they're at right now."
20 years.
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