Soon Rep. Rahm “Rahmbo” Emanuel will be leaving his congressional seat vacant in order to become Barack Obama’s chief of staff. Emanuel represents Illinois 5th District, which includes northern portions of Chicago as well as some suburbs west of the city. John Kerry won this district 67-23 in 2004, and Barack Obama certainly did much better than that. Of course, Emanuel’s resignation will set up a special election sometime in the near future.
The general election will be uncompetitive, so this is an excellent chance to get a very progressive Democrat elected to this district. That Democrat could be Rep. Sara Feigenholtz. Feigenholtz was elected to the Illinois State House in 1995, and since then she has built a reputation as one of the most liberal members in the entire body.
Yesterday Feigenholtz announced she is forming a campaign committee to explore a run for the 5th District. Part of the e-mail to her supporters reads:
As you know, Congressman Rahm Emanuel will be resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives to serve in the Obama administration. I believe this creates an opportunity for another progressive thinker, such as myself, to lead the 5th District. . . To let our dreams of a better tomorrow end with the November 4th election would be an affront to those very principles Americans were hoping to reclaim this year. . . I am asking you to believe in my capacity to lead once again, and embark upon this journey with me.
Let’s face it, Emanuel is not as progressive as he could be, especially not from such a strongly Democratic District. Feigenholtz, on the other hand, is 100% Pro-Choice, Supports Gay Marriage, and is a solid progressive on every other issue.
To my knowledge, Feigenholtz is the only announced candidate, but Emanuel hasn’t even resigned yet, and there is likely to be more. There is no date yet set for the Special Primary or Election. But if we rally around Feigenholtz early, we can make sure that a solid progressive represents this district.
On the Issues:
http://votesmart.org/npat.php?…
House Site
http://www.staterepsara.com/
Act Blue Page
http://www.actblue.com/contrib…
It’s going to be a clusterf*** of a primary and the outcome might not be based on money (NY-26 for example). Since one candidate suicided on another, it shot up the third candidate.
A website were the results of the Presidential election by Congressional District could be located?