No 'turtle' in race against Hare
Deanna Bellandi (AP)
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: News
CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Republicans who have already lost one high-profile congressional seat won't compete for the seat held by Democratic Rep. Phil Hare of Rock Island.
Although several people expressed interest, no one emerged as a candidate so the GOP didn't slate anyone by Monday's deadline for the fall ballot. The Green Party filed paperwork for its candidate, Troy Dennis of Mount Zion.
Knox County GOP Chairman Marc Young said he was disappointed Hare won't have a Republican opponent.
"Every congressman should have some kind of checks and balances," Young said.
Hare spokesman Tim Schlittner said the lack of a Republican challenger is a good reflection on his boss. But Hare isn't taken anything for granted, he said.
"It speaks volumes about the great job he's done," Schlittner said.
Hare succeeded his longtime boss former Democratic Rep. Lane Evans, who held the seat for nearly 25 years. Evans, who has Parkinson's disease, decided to retire after winning the 2006 Democratic primary and endorsed his longtime aide as his successor.
The GOP's failure to field a candidate for the fall election was not an indication of a Republican Party struggling in Illinois, despite the recent loss of former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert's seat to a Democrat in a special election last month, Young said.
Republicans didn't get a candidate mostly because of the time and money required to run a congressional campaign in the expansive western Illinois district that cuts into the central part of the state, he said.
Those same pressures forced out the GOP nominee in exiting Rep. Jerry Weller's district, which runs south and west of Chicago. After winning a three-way Republican primary, Tim Baldermann ditched his bid, saying he couldn't juggle a campaign and the responsibilities of his jobs as the New Lenox mayor and police chief of suburban Chicago Ridge.
Local Republican leaders are set to meet later this month to select a ballot replacement for Baldermann, and they will likely turn to wealthy suburban Chicago concrete company owner Martin "Marty" Ozinga III.
Although several people expressed interest, no one emerged as a candidate so the GOP didn't slate anyone by Monday's deadline for the fall ballot. The Green Party filed paperwork for its candidate, Troy Dennis of Mount Zion.
Knox County GOP Chairman Marc Young said he was disappointed Hare won't have a Republican opponent.
"Every congressman should have some kind of checks and balances," Young said.
Hare spokesman Tim Schlittner said the lack of a Republican challenger is a good reflection on his boss. But Hare isn't taken anything for granted, he said.
"It speaks volumes about the great job he's done," Schlittner said.
Hare succeeded his longtime boss former Democratic Rep. Lane Evans, who held the seat for nearly 25 years. Evans, who has Parkinson's disease, decided to retire after winning the 2006 Democratic primary and endorsed his longtime aide as his successor.
The GOP's failure to field a candidate for the fall election was not an indication of a Republican Party struggling in Illinois, despite the recent loss of former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert's seat to a Democrat in a special election last month, Young said.
Republicans didn't get a candidate mostly because of the time and money required to run a congressional campaign in the expansive western Illinois district that cuts into the central part of the state, he said.
Those same pressures forced out the GOP nominee in exiting Rep. Jerry Weller's district, which runs south and west of Chicago. After winning a three-way Republican primary, Tim Baldermann ditched his bid, saying he couldn't juggle a campaign and the responsibilities of his jobs as the New Lenox mayor and police chief of suburban Chicago Ridge.
Local Republican leaders are set to meet later this month to select a ballot replacement for Baldermann, and they will likely turn to wealthy suburban Chicago concrete company owner Martin "Marty" Ozinga III.
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