The real election to fill White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's old seat was at the beginning of March, in the Democratic primary.
Still and all, we have to give the Republicans their chance, even in an election in which they have absolutely no hope (D+11 district).
Good-government reformer Mike Quigley, a prominent Cook County commissioner, faces off against a real live Freeper, Rosanna Pulido. Quigley will win.
The district, which extends from Chicago's North Side lakefront to the Cook County suburbs, favors Democrats. CQ Politics says a Republican was elected only once in the last century in the district, and 54,000 Democrats participated in the March 3 primary -- compared with 4,400 Republicans and 500 for the Green Party.
This seat was once held by former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, indicted recently on federal corruption charges, and former House Ways and Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski, who was jailed on a mail-fraud conviction.
The Chicago-based district has sent three especially prominent Democrats to Washington in recent years - former Ways and Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and Emanuel. Two of these gentlemen wound up in serious legal trouble due to corruption issues, so Quigley ought to be a welcome breath of fresh air.