Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is expected to announce Thursday on the House floor that he is retiring from Congress, a senior aide to the congressman told CNN Wednesday.The aide said that Hastert will announce his plans to retire tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in an address on the House floor. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office provided the floor time to the former speaker to address his colleagues.
“His plan is to make his farewell address tomorrow on the House floor,” the aide said. “He is then going to decide at some point this year when he will step down.”
The aide said the effective date of Hastert’s resignation not yet been determined.
So, no telling when a special election would be. As many have speculated, Hastert may be gaming things so that the special won’t coincide with the Illinois presidential primaries on Feb. 5th, which will presumably feature favorite son Barack Obama, and consequently higher Dem turnout. (IL’s congressional primaries – the first in the nation – are also that same day.) Some background info on the timing of the special is available here.
Stay tuned.
(Hat-tip: pierredude)