With President-elect Obama's announcement that he will resign his Senate seat on Sunday, speculation has been more rampant than previously on who Gov. Blagojevich might appoint. There's a whole list of people mentioned for the job, most often Jesse Jackson, Jr., Tammy Duckworth, and Jan Schakowsky. Other names are Lisa Madigan, Dan Hynes, Emil Jones, Kwame Raoul, Dan Seals, Luis Gutierrez, Danny Davis, Alexi Giannoulias, and Jesse White.
As if that weren't enough there's a slight chance that an outside candidate may get the job, at least if you listen closely to Sen. Dick Durbin.
Here's what Dick Durbin had to say about an Obama successor:
"I really hope that the governor will be picking someone who can serve the state rather than the caretaker or someone who is, you know, trying to put some last line on their resume," Durbin said. "I don’t want to see that happen. I’d like to see him pick someone who can really help me and help our state."
Durbin declined to give a list of names on his list of potential successors, although he told students in central Illinois on Wednesday that Duckworth was on his sheet.
"They include some names that haven’t been mentioned, people that I’ve noticed around the state that I think are extraordinary--who I think could step into this position and really have some value added for us in the Capitol in Washington," Durbin said. (emphasis added)
Now, clearly Durbin can only advise Blagojevich. It's the governor's choice but it's interesting nonetheless that Durbin would make such a statement.
Since the Senate won't have an African American member anymore come next week there's a lot of pressure that the governor appoint an African American, though that's far from certain. I think the most likely outcome is an appointee from northern Illinois (Durbin is from down state) who is not a white male.
Now, I've wondered who may be on Durbin's list who has not been mentioned yet and here are a couple of names I came up with:
State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, chair of the Education Committee, chair of the Senate Black Caucus
State Sen. Iris Martinez, Asst. Maj. Leader, Chair of the Pensions Committee
Justice Anne McGlone Burke, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, founder of the Special Olympics, married to Alderman Ed Burke
State Sen. Jacqueline Collins, chair of the Financial Institutions Committee, fmr. aide to Jesse Jackson and Hillary Clinton
These are just a couple of people not being talked about who I find interesting. What do you think? Is there a chance Gov. Blagojevich will appoint an outsider to the Senate? Which outsider would you like to see in Obama's Senate seat?