Ex-House Speaker Hastert to step down
Republican aides said Thursday that former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert will resign soon rather than complete his term 15 months from now, but Hastert himself refused to confirm the reports.
The Plano Republican had announced in August he would not seek re-election in 2008, but said he planned to finish his current term, which ends in January 2009. Republican aides, speaking on background only because Hastert had not yet publicly announced his new plans, said he now intends to leave office late this year or early next year.
Speaking to two reporters Thursday in Washington, Hastert would not confirm or deny the resignation reports. Asked if he plans to resign before his term ends, he said, "not at this time."
In August, Hastert repeatedly refused to deny the possibility of an early retirement in an interview with the Daily Herald.
"I haven't ruled out anything. (I'll serve) as long as I could be effective," he said. "I'm trying to do a lot of this energy policy stuff. If the Congress just locks down and becomes so partisan that I'm wasting my time ..."
Asked to clarify if he'll stay in Washington until his term ends in January 2009, he said it's "all speculation at this point."
Hastert's offices in Batavia and Washington D.C. have been contacted, but no one is commenting about the report.
The acknowledgment from aides came after two reports today claimed that Hastert will resign later this year.
The Web site of Washington D.C.-based newspaper Roll Call cites sources as saying there will be a special election to succeed Hastert. The Web site www.politico.com says Hastert will leave sometime in December, but will not make an announcement today.
Hastert's resignation would trigger a special election, probably in early 2008, in his Chicago-area district that includes Aurora and Elgin. Republicans hope to hold the seat ahead of the November 2008 election, which some fear will draw large numbers of Democratic voters unhappy with President Bush and the Iraq war.
Hastert, 65, has held his Congressional seat since 1986, but announced in August that he would not run again. He had served for eight years as speaker of the house, the longest-serving Republican speaker in history, until early this year, when Democrats earned a majority in the House of Representatives.
Republican candidates to replace him are Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, Rudy Clai of North Aurora, state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora and dairy magnate Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove. Two-time candidate John Laesch of Newark, St. Charles attorney Jotham Stein, scientist Bill Foster of Geneva and Joe Serra of Geneva are facing off on the Democratic side.