Daley leaning toward Illinois Senate bid

Former Commerce Secretary William Daley is leaning toward running for the Senate seat President Obama once held, sources close to Daley tell The Hill. They characterize the decision as all but finalized.

Daley would likely be an instant front-runner in the race to replace Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.). Though the White House may be loath to get involved in a primary, it would be hard to overlook the fact that Daley was a co-chairman of Obama’s presidential campaign and the transition team.

{mosads}Daley has already ruled out a run for governor in 2010, deferring to new Gov. Pat Quinn (D). But adding fuel to the rumors of an impending Senate run, a Daley fan has snapped up several websites for Daley’s use, according to a Chicago Sun-Times columnist. The domain names were all registered within the past week.

Daley has already held discussions about the race with two top political professionals in advance of making a bid official. They include Larry Grisolano, who played a central role in 2008 as Obama’s director of paid media and opinion research during the campaign. In January, Grisolano signed up with AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod and home of Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

Veteran pollster John Anzalone, who has seen his profile rise in recent years after handling surveys for Democratic candidates around the country as well as for Obama’s campaign, will also join the Daley team, if and when a run becomes official.

In 2007 and 2008, as an early supporter of the young Illinois senator, Daley provided Obama an instant entree into the world of prominent Democratic bigwigs.

A national political player for decades and a former member of Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, Daley is a top official in the Midwestern office of J.P. Morgan Chase. Daley’s older brother Richard is the powerful mayor of Chicago and controls a vaunted political machine that would give his brother a leg up in the Democratic primary.

The younger Daley is traveling this week and could not be reached for comment, according to an assistant. An e-mail to the former Commerce secretary was not returned immediately.

Though it may seem early to consider running in 2010, Illinois has an unusually early primary — slated for February of next year — putting added pressure on candidates to jump into the race soon in order to raise the money required.

Burris has not said he will run for a full term once his appointment expires, though he has registered a domain name on the Internet, SupportBurris.com. Earlier this week, Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) filed paperwork to explore a Senate run as well.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who coveted the seat and was an active campaigner for the appointment, has not ruled out her own bid.

A Democratic consultant aiding Giannoulias told The Hill that Daley’s entry does not mean the race is over. Pointing to Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley’s (D) win earlier this week in a Democratic primary to fill White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s congressional seat, the consultant said running against the Chicago machine could pay dividends.

In a state with such a troubled past of political corruption, Daley has largely avoided ties with embattled former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose arrest in December and subsequent impeachment embarrassed many fellow Democrats.

But Republicans have signaled they will go after Daley for his ties to another scandal-tainted Illinois Democrat, former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski. The GOP has pointed to Daley’s work in the 1980s, when he lobbied for insurance providers who had business before Rostenkowski’s committee.

Daley’s own lineage could prove to be an issue. The son of perhaps the most famous practitioner of machine politics, former Mayor Richard J. Daley, and the brother of Chicago’s second-most-famous mayor, Richard M. Daley, the former Commerce secretary could engender ill will among down-state voters for whom the family name evokes images of patronage and a well-oiled political machine.