Jan Schakowsky (Getty)
Illinois Democrat
Jan Schakowsky said Monday that she will seek re-election to the House next year and not run for the Senate seat of Democrat
Roland W. Burris.
Schakowsky, a liberal who is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, indicated in a statement that she was disinclined to expend the time and energy needed to do the "massive amounts of fundraising required by a serious Senate bid."
"I feel confident that I could raise the $10 million dollars needed for a primary race - and the $16 million plus needed for a general election campaign - but to do it I would have to become a telemarketer five to six hours each day," Schakowsky said.
Schakowsky is a shoo-in to win a seventh term next year in Illinois' 9th District, a strongly Democratic district that includes part of Chicago and all of the liberal suburbs of Evanston and Skokie. She won 75 percent of the vote in the 2008 election and hasn't won less than 70 percent in any general election.
Burris, who was appointed last December to the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama, hasn't said whether he will seek a full six-year term next year. He has poor approval ratings, mainly because he accepted an appointment from then-Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, who has since been ousted from office and indicted on charges that include an allegation he tried to auction off the Senate seat for personal gain. Burris also has been accused of providing incomplete and misleading testimony to an Illinois committee regarding the circumstances of his selection.
Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is seeking the Senate seat. Other Democrats weighing a campaign include state Attorney General Lisa Madigan and businessman Christopher Kennedy, a son of the late New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is weighing a bid. Republican Rep. Mark Steven Kirk is considering a Senate campaign.
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