Edgar Declines Gubernatorial Race

[tritsofme]

CHICAGO -- Former Gov. Jim Edgar, who guided the state through a budget crisis and emerged from two terms with his popularity intact, said Friday he would not seek the GOP's nomination for governor in 2006.

A visibly emotional Edgar, who was widely viewed as the brightest hope for Republicans to recapture the governor's mansion, had to stop several times as he described the difficulty he and his wife, Brenda, had making the decision.

"After a lot of thought, a lot of anguish, we decided I will not be a candidate for governor," Edgar said at a news conference at the Union League Club of Chicago. He was surrounded by more than a dozen former members of his administration.

Edgar, who left office in 1999, said thousands of people had approached him on the street and asked him to run. But he said he came to believe he was not the only Republican who could defeat incumbent Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"Someone else can be elected governor of the state of Illinois, be the new governor, other than Jim Edgar," said Edgar, who also served two terms as secretary of state.

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http://www.nbc5.com/politics/5042674/detail.html?rss=chi&psp=news

Blago dodged a huge bullet here. Edgar would have beaten him in a cake walk.

Blago might be the luckiest unpopular governor in the nation. What will probably be a basically unknown Republican challenger against one of the least popular governors in the country, might contribute to a low turnout election where Blago sneaks back in for another term.

[barb162]

1. goodbye Mr. Teflon and good riddance

[terrya]

2. And unless something horribly dire...like Blagojevich himself indicted....

Rod Blagojevich just won another 4 years. I think Edgar was the only Republican who could have beat him.

[tritsofme]

3. That consistent level of sub 40% approval hurts alot

I mean hell, Bush gets higher ratings in Illinois right now than Blago does.

He needs to get back in the mid to high 40% range, and I suspect as the campaign wears on his millions of dollars in campaign cash will assist him toward that end.

Having LaHood out of the race helps him out tremendously as well.

Topinka and Gidwicz could pose serious challenges if the GOP can convince the fundies that getting rid of Blagojevich is more important than voting for a moderate.

But with low enthusiasm for him personally and an approval rating stuck in the 30% range, the best he can hope for is little interest in the race and low turnout overall.

[davsand]

4. Low interest will really hurt downstate Dems.

I sure wish Madigan and Co. had considered that BEFORE they signed off on Blag for another term. They have now made the Grass Roots work terribly important to the Dem party--even MORE so than it was already. The entire GOTV effort along with drumming up any excitement will have to be paid for and handled in each local race rather than at a statewide level.

The cost of a County-wide race just went up by about $25,000 just to pay for the required media. State Rep or State Senate races will cost about three times more for media...



Laura

[AX10]

5. Sad thing is that Illinois is a BLUE state...

and you may get a wackjob Red State Governor. sorry to hear this.

[DanCa]

6. Cmon though if you believe in polls Kerry would be president

How would the run against blago birket?

[tritsofme]

8. I don't know what you mean about the polls

But Bush sure didn't have 30% approval ratings a year out from the election.

Birket doesn't concern me at all. The whole Cruz situation will be an albatross around his neck for the rest of his political career.

[barb162]

7. the gidwicz commercials drive me nuts

this clown comes from a rich family who screwed employees of Alberto-Culver bigtime. Then he says he knows how to run business when everything was given to him on a silver platter. Very much like Bush; doesn't know how to run anything