Chicago inspector general to run for U.S. Senate nomination

Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman Wednesday announced his resignation and intention to run for U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket.

"We deserve better," Hoffman said on an Internet video at his new campaign Web site. "The people of Illinois want accountability."

Hoffman, 42, told his staff at their downtown office of his move, which is expected to shake up the Democratic primary to replace Sen. Roland Burris in President Barack Obama's old seat.

Hoffman has made waves in the inspector general's post, working at times with federal investigators to ferret out corruption under Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Hoffman was a federal prosecutor for seven years before taking the inspector general post in 2005.

His work in recent years has included arrests stemming from building department corruption, probing of deals by Daley relatives, and questionable O'Hare International Airport contracts.

He was also a key player in Gov. Pat Quinn's blue-ribbon reform commission that pushed lawmakers to pass sweeping ethics legislation this year.

On his campaign Web site video, Hoffman takes aim at federal bailouts of the financial sector, a measure Obama voted for in the Senate and now supports as president. The site does not yet detail his positions on any issue.

Hoffman has hired the public relations firm founded by David Axelrod, a former Daley campaign manager who is now a top Obama adviser.

Hoffman enters a Democratic primary already dominated by Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who has started lining up key endorsements, and Chicago Urban League CEO Cheryle Jackson, among others.

Hoffman acknowledges in his Internet video that he faces an uphill battle, but he attempts to turn that into a campaign cause.

"It won't be easy," he says. "The insiders and special interests will try to stop us ... That is why this campaign will be counting on you."

The campaign season is starting early. Petitions to get on the ballot are due in early November. Several top Democrats haven't yet picked a candidate, including Sen. Dick Durbin, who said Wednesday of the Senate race: "I don't think that the field is final yet."