Move creates open Republican seat
From John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald Story Tools |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Citing the demands of running as a Republican in a Democratic state, Sen. Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois said Tuesday he would retire next year to avoid a "challenging" re-election race -- a campaign that could have drained his personal fortune.
Fitzgerald, 42, a wealthy banking heir and the only Republican to unseat a Democratic senator in 1998, said his decision to retire at the end of his first term stemmed from a reluctance to ignore his family and devote the next two years of his life to campaigning.
"This is a race in a heavily Democratic state that, for a Republican candidate, will require full-time devotion in order to win," Fitzgerald, an embattled GOP maverick, said in Chicago. "I could not be a senator and a father during this campaign. I could only be a candidate."
Fitzgerald devoted a considerable portion of his statement to the daunting political realities any Republican faces in Illinois. Last year, the state's resurgent Democratic Party captured the governor's office for the first time in 26 years.
While Fitzgerald did enjoy the obvious benefits of incumbency and personal wealth, some GOP leaders celebrated his decision to step down. A new Republican survey released Monday showed that only 45 percent of Illinois voters wanted to re-elect Fitzgerald.
"This is the best possible development in that race," said a prominent GOP strategist. With Fitzgerald out, "all of our incumbents are heavily favored" for re-election in 2004.
Said another national Republican strategist, "I'm not losing any sleep over this. We're better off today than we were yesterday."
Fitzgerald had secured White House support in his re-election bid, but some party sources had started to question the strength of that support, especially following Fitzgerald's vote against President Bush's plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
While he sided with his party's conservative wing by opposing abortion rights and several other social issues, Fitzgerald also backed tighter restrictions on gun rights and had a strong environmental record that occasionally put him at odds with business leaders.
A handful of Republicans, including businessman Andrew McKenna, had been exploring the possibility of a primary challenge to Fitzgerald.
Following Fitzgerald's announcement, that list will clearly grow. Republicans who are now eyeing the open-seat race include former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 2002, former state Sen. Patrick O'Malley and DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom. Also, Republicans are touting Ret. Air Force Maj. Gen. John Borling as a possible candidate.
Some Republicans said the best recruit would be former Gov. Jim Edgar, a Bush ally. But it was unclear today whether Edgar, 56, who left office in 1999 after two terms in office, was interested in returning to elective politics.
Democratic optimism
Still, a Democratic campaign strategist said prospects for Democrats to win the Illinois seat "improved immeasurably today."
"The Senate seat in Illinois could very well become the Democrats to lose," said Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Woodhouse noted that the White House had worked to clear the GOP primary field for Fitzgerald. "And [this] could be a fatal blow to their prospects for holding the seat," he said.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman George Allen of Virginia offered a relatively measured response, saying that he would work with House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and state Republican Chairwoman Judy Baar Topinka to find the best candidate.
At least four Democrats -- Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, investment banker Blair Hull, state Sen. Barack Obama, and state Comptroller Dan Hynes -- are eyeing their party's nomination.
Fitzgerald, who spent more than $13 million of his own money in his 1998 race to unseat Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, raised the most money and was the second biggest overall spender in that campaign cycle. Sources said Fitzgerald was reluctant to dip into his personal fortune once again to finance a tough race that could cost at least $20 million.
He is the second senator to announce plans to retire in 2004. Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat, is also retiring, creating another potentially competitive race.
Overall, there are 19 Democratic-held Senate seats and 15 GOP-held seats up in 2004. At this early stage, Democrats face potentially tough races in nine states: California, South Dakota, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, Washington and Nevada. Republicans could have trouble in several states, including Missouri, Kentucky, Colorado, Illinois, Alaska and Pennsylvania.
