Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is formally resigning from Congress today.
Hastert said he did so on the advice of attorneys with the aim that a special primary election to replace him could be held on Feb. 5—the same day as the state’s regular primary election, which will decide nominees for Hastert’s long-term replacement as well.
Hastert said he wanted to avoid the extra costs of a special primary election by county election officials in the 14th Congressional District, which runs from western DuPage County to nearly the Iowa border. Still, those counties are likely to face extra costs for holding a special general election in late spring to fill the remainder of Hastert’s term.
How magnanimous of Denny! Still thinking of the taxpayers as he skips town and abandons his district midway through his term. Of course, Denny would want the special primary and not the special general to coincide with the state’s February 5th presidential primary, lest Barack Obama’s presence on the ballot pull in enough Democrats to tilt his district in favor of the Democratic candidate.
But Blago has the final say:
It’s up to Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich to set the date of the special primary and general elections.
Dan White, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said he had yet to receive notice of Hastert’s resignation.
White did, however, outline the process for replacing a congressman who resigns mid-term: the governor calls for an election within 120 days of the vacancy. White said his reading of the law is that a primary and general election would have to take place within the 120-day period.
I don’t think that this district, which supported Bush by an 11-point margin in 2004 is the likeliest of turnovers, given the lack of electoral experience in the race’s Democratic contenders (’06 loser John Laesch, self-funding physicist Bill Foster, or attorney Jotham Stein), but Blagojevich’s timing could make things interesting.
As we’re fond of saying: stay tuned.