UPDATED: Angling Underway for Open Senate Seats
Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) confirmed to The Illinoize Monday he would not seek the open Senate seat vacated by Senator Bill Brady last week.
In the course of four days, three high profile downstate senate seats all became open with resignations. Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) resigned December 31, Sen. Chuck Weaver (R-Peoria) resigned January 2, and Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) announced he would leave the Senate January 17.
As the seats have come open, some public jockeying for the seats is underway, though other potential candidates may not have surfaced.
Weaver did not seek re-election in November, so his resignation comes about two weeks before he was to be replaced by Republican Win Stoller anyway. While we don’t have formal confirmation from Stoller or the Peoria County GOP Chairman, most Senate Republicans expect Stoller will be appointed to the seat in time for the expected lame duck session this weekend.
UPDATED (10:27 A.M.):
From Peoria County GOP Chairman Stephen Morris:
“A majority of the county chairs that make up this senate district met yesterday afternoon in Toulon and voted unanimously to fill the Weaver vacancy with Stoller. The paperwork has been signed and I think the only remaining step is for Win to take the oath of office and file it all.”
UPDATED (2:32 P.M.):
Win Stoller will be sworn in to Weaver's former Senate seat tonight at 6:00 P.M.
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Filling Brady’s seat may be more complicated. Tazewell County has the largest weighted vote, followed by Logan County, followed by McLean County, Brady’s home county. And it appears a candidate from each of the three counties may be prepared to step forward. County GOP Chairmen from each county in the districts get a weighted vote to appoint someone to fill an open seat.
Tazewell County Board Chairman Dave Zimmerman says he is considering seeking the appointment. Zimmerman sought a Senate appointment in 2011, but was passed over for then-Rep. Shane Cultra. Zimmerman says he could make a final decision on entering the race as early as Tuesday.
Logan County Board Chair Emily Davenport says she is still considering formally jumping in the race for the appointment. Davenport is currently the Senate’s Property Control Officer and has worked on Senate staff since 2003.
Kyle Ham of Bloomington, the former Chief of Staff to then-State Treasurer Dan Rutherford who was also an aide to former Attorney General Jim Ryan says he is also considering seeking the appointment. Ham previously served as Mayor of his hometown of Toulon in Stark County and was Executive Director of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council.
State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) confirmed to The Illinoize Monday night he will not be a candidate for the open seat. Many Republicans considered him the favorite for the appointment. Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman also took his name out of consideration Monday.
The pending race for Manar’s open seat is still unclear less than 24 hours after he announced he’s resigning January 17. There also may be hesitation from some Democrats to take on the seat as it could be eliminated in its current form when new legislative boundaries are drawn later this year.
So far, the only concrete answer we’ve received is from former AFL-CIO chief Michael Carrigan of Decatur who said “absolutely not” when asked about the appointment.
We’ve heard multiple names that we’ll share below. We’ve reached out to all of them and will continue to ask around.
Potential candidates:
Decatur Mayor Julie Moore-Wolfe
State Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur)
former State Rep. Gary Hannig of Litchfield (though this seems unlikely considering some controversial recent news)
Macoupin County Clerk Pete Duncan
UPDATED (WEDNESDAY 1:27 A.M.)
Duncan says he’s not interested.
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State Central Committeewoman Jayne Mazzotti of Taylorville
We’ll keep you updated on developments in that race. Macon and Macoupin counties appear to have the largest weighted vote in the district.