Some Dems wary of Blagojevich successor

As Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) comes under intense pressure to resign,
some Democrats in Chicago are bracing for the challenge of dealing with his
successor, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.

{mosads}Quinn, a Democrat who has built his career as a reformer and an outsider, is
not a part of Chicago’s so-called political machine, and he already finds
himself at odds with top Democrats over how to fill President-elect Obama’s Senate seat.

Some of the state’s top Democrats, including House Speaker Mike Madigan and
Senate President Emil Jones, are pushing for a special election to fill the
vacancy. As with earlier run-ins between Quinn and machine Democrats, the
lieutenant governor is pushing back, wanting to retain the appointment
power.

Whether he resigns or is impeached, Blagojevich would be replaced by the
59-year-old Quinn, the former state treasurer in his second term as the
state’s No. 2 leader. Quinn has had a long political career with mixed
results, having lost a race for Illinois secretary of state in 1994 and
finishing second to now-Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the 1996 primary race
for Paul Simon’s (D) seat.

Quinn is a wild card in the ordinarily well-ordered deck of Chicago machine
politics, someone who has built his political career on challenging the
establishment rather than playing along, according to Illinois political
observers.

“He’s been kind of an outsider. People have described him as a gadfly,” said
Eric Adelstein, a Democratic consultant based in Chicago. Quinn, Adelstein said, is “somebody
who’s fought the system.”

That unnerves some in the Chicago machine who would be uncomfortable with
Quinn choosing a senator. At least a few top Democrats seem willing to risk
losing the seat to Republicans rather than allowing Quinn to have his way.

Though momentum has seemed to build for a special election, Quinn has
signaled his unwillingness to give up the opportunity to select a new
senator. At a press conference on Thursday, Quinn said he could make the
appointment instead of leaving it to voters, a move that could save Illinois
an estimated $50 million in election costs.

That puts the lieutenant governor in a different camp than Jones and
Madigan, both of whom back a special-election proposal that will be brought
to the floor of the state legislature early next week. A special election
would give Chicago power players a larger role in the primary process.

Political observers say Quinn’s move is unsurprising. None doubt Quinn would
appoint a qualified candidate, but many suspect he would make an appointment
with an eye toward the future.

With his sights long set on the governor’s mansion, Quinn could face as many
as three of his fellow statewide elected officials in the 2010 primary.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and
Comptroller Dan Hynes are all considered potential challengers in two years.

“There’s a number of candidates out there who sort of already had one toe in
the water on the governor’s race,” said Terry Walsh, a partner with The
Strategy Group. By picking one of his fellow statewide officeholders to fill
in for Obama, Quinn could eliminate a top competitor. “It’s not
inconceivable that [Quinn] could do some sort of ballot management,” Walsh
said.

House Speaker Madigan, whose daughter is the attorney general, has dragged
his feet on organizing impeachment hearings, according to some Democrats.
Lisa Madigan is planning her own run at knocking Blagojevich from office by
way of the state Supreme Court in a move that would surely dominate
headlines around the state.

In addition, several Democrats said putting the seat up for election could
jeopardize an otherwise safe seat. With Reps. Mark Kirk (R) and Peter Roskam
(R) lurking in the wings, some Democrats are worried they could lose the
seat. Kirk and Roskam are centrist Republicans representing suburbs that
have trended Democratic in recent years. Both survived the 2006 and 2008
elections, despite the poor political climate for the GOP.

“If this goes to a special election, now it’s up in the air, it’s a flip of
the coin whether the Democrats would hold onto a Democratic seat,” said Fred
Lebed, a Democratic strategist and public relations consultant. “There’s a
cloud over Illinois, but there’s also a cloud over the Democratic Party.”

Quinn appears to have the upper hand because any legislation passed can sit
on the governor’s desk for up to 60 days without action.

By that time, it could be too late, and either Quinn or — should he
miraculously withstand the extraordinary pressure being brought to bear upon
him — Blagojevich could make the Senate appointment.

One thing is certain, though: After the 76-page criminal complaint came down
earlier this week, the list of potential replacements, and any order in
which they might be, has been upended. Quinn’s involvement in the selection,
or election, process “changes everything,” Adelstein says.

Walsh said, “This was going to be a free-for-all. Now it’s just going to be
a weird free-for-all.”

Quinn did not comment for this article.