Rep. Schakowsky won’t run for Senate

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) is set to announce Monday that
she will not seek her state’s open Senate seat in 2010.

“I think the next two years present a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to make progressive change,” she said in a statement, according to
the Chicago Sun-Times. “I want to devote my energy to help make these things a
reality and decided that I simply couldn’t do it if I mounted a campaign for
Senate.”

{mosads}Schakowsky has been mulling the race for months and set
Monday as a self-imposed deadline for her decision. In opting not to run, she
cited the millions of dollars she would have had to raise.

She told The Hill earlier this year that she would have run
for the seat if a special election were held, but that never panned out, and the
prospect of risking her House seat by running in the next general election
proved a significant deterrent.

Another significant deterrent might have been the prospect
of running against popular state Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) in the primary.
Madigan is leaning toward the governor’s race, but has been wooed by the
national party to run for Senate in recent weeks.

Schakowsky would have been the second major candidate in the
race. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) was seen as the early favorite, but
businessman Chris Kennedy (D) — the son of former Sen. Robert Kennedy — is
close to entering the race, and appointed Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is set to
announce his intentions in the near future as well.

Others interested, according to the Sun-Times, include Chicago
Treasurer Stephanie Neely and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson.

On the Republican side, Rep. Mark Kirk is still weighing his options.

Tags Mark Kirk

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