Follow the political bouncing ball.
Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) isn't up for re-election until 2011 but he filed on Monday to run for Danny Davis's 7th district congressional seat on Monday.
Davis filed to run both for re-election as a congressman and for Cook County board president. He has pledged to drop out of one race by next Monday.
Ald. Sharon Dixon (24th) also filed for Davis's congressional seat, as did state Sen. Rickey Hendon, among others.
Hendon also filed for lieutenant governor.
I guess these folks really, really want to serve!
Todd Stroger filed last in the county president's race, as did Cheryle Jackson in the U.S. Senate race. Both were rumored to have problems getting enough good signatures to get on - and stay on - the ballot, but both said they filed last to ensure their names would appear at the bottom on ballots, instead of going into the lottery to win the top spot and risking losing and finding themselves in the middle.
Politics
Got that?
Jackson is one of seven candidates to file on the Democratic side. You've heard of Alexi Giannoulis and David Hoffman; the others are Jacob Meister, Robert Marshall, Corey Dabney, and Willie Boyd. No need to worry about them until they pass petition challenges.
On the Republican side of the Senate race, seven candidates filed besides the bigfoot, Mark Kirk. Ditto.
A Green Party candidate, LeAlan Jones, also filed. So you have a choice.
(You can look up the candidates who have filed at the State Board of Elections site.)
And not every candidate who filed really wants to win their race. Spoilers are an Illinois staple - you just have to figure out who they're spoiling for and react appropriately, though it would be fun to elect the spoilers just to spoil their sponsors.
The primary is Feb. 2, but in Illinois the musical chairs never really stop.
Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.
