Have A Seat?
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is set to name former IL AG Roland Burris as Pres.-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate. He made his interest in the seat known shortly after Obama's 11/4 victory. Blagojevich has scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. EST.
Burris, 71, has had a long career in IL politics, breaking the color barrier as the first African American elected to statewide office. He served as state comptroller from 1983 to 1991, and IL AG from 1991 to 1995. He is currently an attorney with Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, a national law firm.
Burris, who has lost several Democratic primaries, including one for gov. to Blagojevich, has said that Obama's successor should be able to win a statewide election. But it's unclear at this point whether he would serve as a placeholder or run as the '10 Democratic Senate nominee. It's also unclear whether a deal was reached with Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid (D), who earlier this month said that a Blagojevich appointee wouldn't be seated. Reid's press office is currently preparing a statement on the pending announcement; Obama's transition office also has yet to issue a statement.
In earlier interviews, Blagojevich's attorney Ed Genson had suggested that he didn't expect the Governor to appoint anyone to the seat. At a 12/17 presser Genson's response to the question of whether Blagojevich would appoint a successor, was "No. ... [Senate Maj. Leader] Harry Reid said that they're not going to accept anybody he picks. Why would he do that?" And, in 12/18 interview with MSNBC's Tamron Hall, he said that "My understanding is he's not going to appoint anyone to the seat."
More to come.
(SEAN J. MILLER/ AMY WALTER)
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