State Journal Register: Poe plans to run for lieutenant governor

[Tweed]

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/48832.asp

"Backed by more than a dozen of his legislative colleagues, Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor Thursday, saying Illinois is going backward under Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

As a result, Poe's 99th House District seat, which covers much of Springfield, will be open in 2006, possibly yielding a heated race.

Springfield Ward 4 Ald. Chuck Redpath, a Democrat, has said he wants to run for the office, and Sangamon County GOP Chairman Irv Smith said he expects his party to reach consensus on a candidate.

"My decision to run (for lieutenant governor) was quite simple," Poe said at a Statehouse news conference. "I could no longer continue to watch the destruction of our state by the current governor and administration."

This is great news. Raymond Poe makes a terrible candidate for Lt. Governor and his Illinois House district is only somewhat Republican. Chuck Redpath is an amazing alderman. His name gets in the news quite often in Springfield. Also, his position as Springfield alderman means that most people view him as non-partisan. Barring someone with the last name Ryan running, Redpath will take this in a cakewalk.

[chicagojoe]

1. Which R plans to run for governor?

[Tweed]

2. Chicagojoe, we've been missing you

There's been some good good governor discussions going on in the past couple of weeks. This forum is so busy now, if people don't check in at least once a day, it's easy to fall behind.

So far the Republicans that are looking to run for governor are:

Ray LaHood
Ron Gidwitz
Joe Birkett
Steve Rauschenberger

I believe Bill Brady from Bloomington has also expressed an interest.

Interesting side note: Henry Hyde has agreed to head up Gidwitz's exploratory committee. Problem? Gidwitz is pro-choice. Hyde is such an icon for the pro-lifers, one has to wonder why Hyde would do such a thing when he got less than 60% of the vote in '04. If anything, I think that's a huge sign Hyde is retiring.

[chicagojoe]

3. Steve Rauschenberger lives near me.

Nice guy; kind of sane for a Republican, unless there are some radical things about him I don't know about.
Still, he's one of them.

[Radical Activist]

4. He once suggested we could get rid of two state Universities

He named WIU and Governor's State I believe. I was there when he said it. It was reported in a couple campus papers and on NPR. He backed off his comments by the time NPR asked him about it. The idea was that there would be more money left over for the remaining 10 Universities in the budget. He also said the thought the idea of the 4-year residential University was phasing out in the next 10 years. He was chairman of the Senate budget committee for years, so maybe that is why community colleges are so much better funded.

It would be great to use that used against him with college students, but I can't see students rallying around Blagojevich after all the tuition hikes they've gotten as a result of his big cuts to Higher Education.