Republicans launch TV ad calling for special Senate election
As lawmakers moved to start lengthy impeachment proceedings against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the push to strip him of the power to appoint a U.S. senator - a key focus of the charges against him - and instead create a special election appeared to derail Monday.
"Tonight the world has seen up close the hypocrisy of Illinois politics," decried Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna. "The people of Illinois deserve better."
House Democrats blocked efforts to authorize a special election because House Speaker Michael Madigan said lawmakers were split on the issues.
"The issue is, should we change the rules and laws because we have one incompetent ... official?" said state Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat. "Governor Blagojevich has been rendered neutered on this issue."
The roadblock came as Republicans launched a cable ad blitz Monday urging viewers to call their lawmakers and ask for a special election. A special election would provide a window for Republicans to win the seat, which up until last week was set to go to a Democrat through appointment.
At the same time, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn called on lawmakers to approve a hybrid plan
that would allow him to appoint a temporary senator before a special election could take place.
"I think a special election is in order," Quinn said at a downtown news conference. "We need to have that to clear the air."
A Blagojevich appointment is not the only risk of inaction, critics argue.
The state could go without a second U.S. senator for critical votes on the economy and foreign policy during President-elect Barack Obama's first months in office, Quinn warns. Democratic leaders in the Senate, including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, are clamoring for action to add a seat to their current majority.
Madigan's refusal to move forward with a vote on the special election makes it unclear whether it could regain momentum in the coming weeks. A spokesman for Blagojevich says the governor has not ruled out signing the legislation.
The Republican TV ad is perhaps the most-public effort of a broader campaign to land the GOP a leg-up in the chaos that has ensued since Blagojevich was charged a week ago with trying to sell Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and state businesses for personal gain.
A special election for the U.S. Senate seat would give Republicans a shot at winning the top post. The campaign is sure to draw financial help from the national GOP as Democrats struggle under the cloud of Blagojevich's arrest.
The ad says Blagojevich "embarrassed" Illinois and it attacks Quinn for angling to win authority to appoint someone himself to fill out Obama's remaining two years in the Senate.
"The people of Illinois deserve better than another political power grab," the voice-over says as images of Quinn and Blagojevich together flash on the screen.
The 30-second ad, which will run statewide, implies Obama supports a special election by invoking a recent quote from him that says, "It belongs to the people of Illinois."
In fact, Obama has not said whether he supports a special election or an appointment from Quinn should Blagojevich step down or be removed from office. Obama has only called on lawmakers to do what is "appropriate," without explanation.
Republicans are working to get in front of the Blagojevich scandal, having spent years languishing in the aftermath of the arrest and conviction of former Gov. George Ryan, a Kankakee GOP stalwart.
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, has expressed interest in running for the seat and has won support from party leaders.