Free Republic

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...

PEORIA - The latest multi-millionaire to turn neophyte politician came to Peoria on Monday to tout himself as a candidate for the common people. Blair Hull, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by fellow multi-millionaire Peter Fitzgerald, stressed his roots: Fuller Brush salesman, high school math teacher, former card-carrying union member. "I have life experience," Hull said during an appearance at Carver Community Center in South Peoria. The Chicago businessman, who sold his stake in 1999 in the trading company he founded for almost $340 million, would hold an elected office for the...

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Lane Evans announced his endorsement Tuesday of state Sen. Barack Obama, D-Chicago, in his bid for Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat in 2004. . Evans, D-Ill., said he met with many of the candidates and chose to endorse Obama, who is serving his second term in the Illinois Senate. “He stands up for the average citizens and make sure that their voice is heard,” Evans said. “He is an advocate for working families and works for their future.” Evans, of Rock Island, who is in his 11th term, said Obama could win the seat that will be...

John Simmons has no name recognition, no donor network and no government experience. The last office he held was student body president at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. But the 33-year-old Illinois Democrat, who late last month announced he's seeking his party's Senate nomination, has one possible edge over the five other Democratic contenders -- he's a trial lawyer. Like Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), a former trial lawyer now running for president, Simmons is quite familiar with many attorneys currently active in Democratic Party politics. But it still remains to be seen whether he can count on support from the legal community,...

A millionaire Downstate lawyer jumped into the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Thursday--a move that could dramatically reshape the contest and make it the most expensive in the nation. "I am in--no doubt," said John Simmons, a personal injury lawyer and first-time candidate. "I am planning to put a lot of money in it. . . . And I'm going to have a blast doing it." Simmons, 35, lives in Edwardsville, near St. Louis. As the only Downstate Democrat, he could grab much of the Downstate vote, while the six Chicago candidates split the metropolitan area vote. Insiders believe the...

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...

As a gaggle of Illinois Republicans eye the temptingly open U.S. Senate race now that former Gov. Jim Edgar has declined to run, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is determined to keep tabs on them with the help of an outpost just opened in Chicago. Until someone comes up with a snappier name, the overt operation is called the "Illinois Project'' and is renting space in the Illinois AFL-CIO office on Wacker Drive. Democratic campaign committee political director Paul Tewes spent a few days in Chicago in early April--before Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) decided not to seek another term in...

Before Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) announced last month that he won't seek a second term next year, Democratic hopes of winning the seat were muted by political reality. True, Fitzgerald was regarded as a budget hawk and an iconoclast on the outs with state Republicans. Also, national Democrats were saying they were determined to win Illinois, along with Alaska, in 2004. But the undeniable fact was that Fitzgerald was an incumbent and the White House and the National Republican Senatorial Committee were determined to do everything possible to keep Fitzgerald's seat and hold on to their slim margin in the...

He's up to the challenge. Democratic U.S. Senate contender Dan Hynes, who had all the advantages in a projected 2004 matchup against Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald, is facing a more difficult contest in the wake of Fitzgerald's withdrawal as a candidate for re-election. Hynes, 34, the two-term state comptroller, would be the underdog in a race against former Gov. Jim Edgar, 56, the Republican Party's consensus choice for the U.S. Senate. At the same time, Hynes has the potential to give Edgar a more competitive run than any Democrat in the field. In a series of statewide polls taken since...

The race to succeed Illinois Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald was thrown wide open Tuesday after the first-term senator said he wouldn't seek reelection next year. Fitzgerald's announcement at Chicago's Union League Club complicated GOP efforts not only to hold onto the seat but also to retain the party's paper-thin one-vote edge in the Senate. Republicans who may seek the Senate seat include former Gov. Jim Edgar, former attorney general Jim Ryan, State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, Chicago businessman Andrew McKenna Jr., and Rep. Ray LaHood of Peoria. On the Democratic side of the race, potential candidates include investment bank Blair...

She's making it a race. In the 2004 Democratic marathon for the U.S. Senate, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has moved into a dead heat with state Comptroller Dan Hynes, according to a new poll. But with a third of likely voters undecided and fewer than half declaring a preference for the leading contenders, the Democratic nomination is up for grabs. This telephone survey of 800 likely voters was recently conducted by a nationally reputable polling firm for another senatorial hopeful, who asked not to be identified. The poll's margin for error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Hynes is...

WASHINGTON--Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who in 1998 became the state's youngest elected constitutional officer in decades, said Wednesday he is preparing to enter the Democratic field trying to unseat Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Hynes, 34, said he would file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish an exploratory committee that would allow him to begin raising money as a candidate for the 2004 race. ''My candidacy is being extremely well-received by people of all ages in all parts of the state,'' he said. ''I offer a proven, effective leadership, a track record of representing all of Illinois and a...