* She hasn’t made up her mind yet, but, oh, man, if this primary happens it is gonna be brutal…
Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson said Friday she has filed a statement of candidacy with the the Federal Election Commission in the 2nd congressional district of Illinois, a seat held by fellow Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr.
Halvorson, unseated in the 11th congressional district last year by Republican Adam Kinzinger, emphasized she has not yet decided to run.
“I’ve been asked to run by constituents who feel they are not represented,” said Halvorson, who lives in Crete, which would become part of Jackson’s congressional district under a new remap. “I’ve told them I would consider it and I have to keep my options open if I’m going to do that and that means filing my paperwork.”
However, Halvorson sounded very much like a candidate when she said, “He (Jackson) lives in D.C.. He doesn’t come home on weekends. His kids go to school in D.C. […]
“I just want to emphasize I haven’t made a decison yet,” she said. “This is a tough one. The new (2nd) district includes a lot of the areas I represent, so I am very familiar with it.”
She’s already bringing up the guy’s kids? Yikes.
* These two have been fighting for years, mainly over the third airport. Here’s a story from the first time she ran for Congress in 2008…
Jackson is concerned that if Halvorson were elected to Congress, his airport plan—which he has worked on or advocated for more than a decade as an economic boon for residents in his district to the north—would be dead.
“That is our specific fear, that if she’s put in charge, our developers will leave,” said Rick Bryant, a spokesman for Jackson, who declined to speak to a reporter directly.
“They should be fearing me becoming a congresswoman,” Halvorson said in response. “I represent the people who live in the 11th Congressional District. . . . He’s just nervous that I’m going to become a congresswoman because then his control is over.”
Jackson got a little payback earlier this year when he adamantly opposed Halvorson’s attempt to get herself appointed to be the state’s Transportation Secretary…
“Any consideration of her for that post would be an outrageous slap in the face to voters in the south suburbs who overwhelmingly supported Gov. Quinn for re-election because of his promise to build a third airport,” said Jackson […]
Jackson added that Halvorson would doom other regional projects, including the proposed Metra Southeast Service, CTA Red Line extension and the Metra extension to the airport,
“She has no record of success for promoting any transportation project in her district or in the State of Illinois,” Jackson concluded.
* The redrawn 2nd District is less than 54 percent African-American, but that percentage will be far higher in a Democratic primary. Jackson has loads of baggage that she can use against him, which is a big reason why this contest would be so intense, but the demographics are not her friend here.
Still, one can hope, right?
* Other stuff…
* Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh to Skip Obama Speech to Congress
* Rep. Walsh draws crowd: President Barack Obama got both a snub and a sorry Thursday from Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh… “I sincerely apologize for what I said last night. That’s not what I meant to say, but that’s what I said,” Walsh, R-McHenry, said, citing the Northwest Herald story in which the remark appeared.
* Hultgren to supporters: I’m running
* Area Dems To Collect Congressional Signatures - Reps. Peter Roskam and Judy Biggert will wait to see how a lawsuit challenging new district maps will play out in the courts.
* ‘I am disgusted with Congress’s failure’: Former state Rep. Jay Hoffman will run for seat in 13th District
LIVE session coverage...
- wordslinger - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 11:12 am:
You have to think Trips fundraising ability isn’t what it used to be, given the hits that he’s taken and the Dems are out of power in the House.
Still, where’s Halvorson going to raise money.
- Demoralized - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 11:44 am:
It amazes me how childish our Congressmen continue to be. Walsh to skip the President’s speech? C’mon. When did it become an acceptable practice to ignore a Presidential speech to a joint session of Congress? I don’t care whether you agree or disagree with the President, but you darn well better respect the office that he holds. When the President gives a speech like this, you should be there out of respect.
- bored now - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 11:46 am:
i’d be shocked if debbie couldn’t raise emily’s list money, seeing how intensely they recruited her in the past. that’s not the real challenge, though. jesse’s been keeping his head down since the blago thing erupted, he hasn’t been a factor in the south suburbs for years (since 2002?) and eastern will county is pretty much horrified by the thought that jackson will represent them. debbie, otoh, hasn’t really run a strong campaign since i’ve lived in the state (her 2008 campaign was run out of d.c., near as i can tell) and she couldn’t win without having a strong field-mail-television campaign. it’s not just about raising the money, it’s about connecting with voters. is jesse willing to campaign heavily throughout the district? is debbie???
- RudyKzooti - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 11:48 am:
This would be great entertainment, I bet there are a few more blondes out there in JJJ’s past that would suddenly appear. He is really ripe for picking off…
- Levois - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:15 pm:
You mean Halvorson has lots of baggage to use against Jackson?
And the fact that Halvorson lost her seat originally wouldn’t look that great, but it’ll have to depend on how much damage Jackson did to himself with that baggage.
- Anonymous - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:16 pm:
Gotta agree with Rudy. If Halverson makes the race, clearly this contest would draw the most media attention and there will be no shortage of “revelations” regarding JJJ and his family, personal life, business dealings and other reports, many of which have been “out there” for years but never reported on.
- Fed up - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:25 pm:
Halvorson carried blogosphere water in the state senate she was part of Blagos team. Her and Emil Jones helped Blago more than anyone else. Between her and triple j I would take none of the above.
- wishbone - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:42 pm:
“Jackson is concerned that if Halvorson were elected to Congress, his airport plan—which he has worked on or advocated for more than a decade as an economic boon for residents in his district to the north—would be dead.”
This “plan” has been dead for years. Time to bury it. Where exactly does he think the billions of dollars will come from?
- OneMan - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:48 pm:
It would be fun to watch… If the kids go to school in DC it is hard to be an Alderman too one would think
- Skeeter - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 12:54 pm:
Fed Up nailed it. Do we support the person who did whatever Emil told her to do (and if it is not good for Illinois, too bad. EMIL wants it) or the person from D.C. who had his name featured in Blago’s trial? If I lived in the district, I would vote Republican. Neither of those two should be in Congress.
- TwoFeetThick - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 1:14 pm:
=Do we support the person who did whatever Emil told her to do=
Um, as majority leader, it was kind of her job to do what President Jones wanted her to do, and to see that other members of the caucus fell in line. After all, he appointed her majority leader and that’s a big part of what a majority leader does. And, there were disagreements between the two of them and sometimes she got Jones to go in a different direction but, as a good majority leader, she kept those disagreements private.
- Fed up - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 1:15 pm:
I bet the Shaw family is ready to help muddy the water in any way they can. Jr and the Shaws have a long history of bitter races for control of south side and south suburb politics.
- hisgirlfriday - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 1:55 pm:
As much as I may disagree with Joe Walsh’s politics, I have to hand it to him for his ability to know exactly what to say to get an endless stream of free media.
For some reason MSNBC is having him on in their next hour to give him even more attention for this stunt.
- Pat collins - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 2:45 pm:
One must wonder if Jackson isn’t the only D incumbent a little vulnerable due to the new map? I mean, without the “oozing” of Chicago districts out, this wouldn’t even be an issue
- Boone Logan Square - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 4:05 pm:
Gee, if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect these two didn’t like each other.
- Ruby Street Bridge - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 4:34 pm:
to quote Flounder from National Lampoon’s Animal House: “Oh Boy, this is gonna be great!”
- DoubleDown - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 4:50 pm:
I live in Peotone (Eastern Will- @borednow) which was CD11 now CD2 and I know it will be a democrat that will win the seat in 2012. So reading this information is like choosing between to cut off my right arm or choosing to cut off my left arm. Who ever wins will not be a good thing. imo
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Sep 2, 11 @ 5:32 pm:
This “plan” has been dead for years. Time to bury it. Where exactly does he think the billions of dollars will come from?
The answer might come in that speech before next Thursday’s Packers game???