Last week, Congressman Aaron Schock announced that he will seek re-election rather than run for Governor. Expect more announcements in coming months. But first, incumbent officials have to make their decisions. IPR’s Amanda Vinicky reports.
Plenty of posturing and fundraising has gone on as candidates interested in being the states' chief executive look ahead to the 2014 elections. But it's like dominos. A lot of politicians' decisions are based on someone else's.
Take Treasurer Dan Rutherford. The Republican's openly interested in running for governor, but hasn't made it official.
"It's definitely not hemming and hawing. Let's just say that we've pretty well settled out in our minds where we're going to be, and I just think it's a matter of appropriate timing, and we'll be announcing in early summer."
If Rutherford does run for governor, expect a run of a different sort, of politicians declaring they'll try for his job. Likewise, lawmakers looking to move up are waiting on Attorney General Lisa Madigan to decide if she's staying put, or if she'll challenge Governor Pat Quinn for the Democratic nomination.
A Madigan run would set off a monster round of political musical chairs. Politicians looking to move up wouldn't challenge Madigan for her post, but if it's empty, expect a surge of candidates, from both parties.