Johnson says he's happy being mayor of Elk Grove Village
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson told his village board this week that he won't be seeking the Republican nomination for 8th Congressional District seat in the March primary.
“The bottom line is, I'm proud to be mayor of Elk Grove,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I have no other aspirations. As long as the residents want me to, I will serve as the mayor.”
Johnson earlier had said he was pondering a congressional bid at the urging of prominent political and business figures. Once that news got out, he said, he started getting calls from local business leaders and politicos in Washington, D.C.
“It was very flattering,” Johnson said. “They all kept saying the same thing, ‘If you could only run the federal government the way you run the village.'
“This was really a golden opportunity, if I had any kind of desire to do something further. But, at the end of the day, it always came down to the same thing. I just love being the mayor of Elk Grove.”
Johnson, 51, will be up for re-election in April 2013.
The newly drawn 8th District has no incumbent running since Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of McHenry is now vying for the 14th District — predominantly encompassing Kane and McHenry counties — against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren in the primary.
The only Republican contender in the new 8th District thus far is businessman Andrew Palomo. State Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights also flirted with the idea of running for Congress, but like Johnson, decided against it.
The proposed 8th district includes parts of Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg and Arlington Heights and DuPage and Kane counties.
Democrat and Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth, who lost to Congressman Peter Roskam in what is the current 6th District in 2006, and former Illinois Deputy Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for comptroller last year, will face off in the 8th District Democratic primary. Both are from Hoffman Estates.