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Gov. Quinn backs off special Senate election to force Burris' hand
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| Contributor | Imperator |
| Last Edited | Imperator Mar 02, 2009 08:46pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Tuesday, March 3, 2009 02:45:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Gov. Patrick Quinn today backed off on his call for lawmakers to press ahead with a special election that could effectively remove embattled U.S. Sen. Roland Burris from office.
Emerging from a meeting with African-American elected leaders, Quinn said it’s time for the state to get past the controversy surrounding Burris and focus on other issues, such as jump starting the economy.
Last week, Quinn said during an appearance on “The Steve Cochran Show” on WGN-AM that lawmakers should take advantage of a clause in the U.S. Constitution’s 17th Amendment that allows for a special election while Burris is serving, which could force Burris from office. Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan issued an opinion saying such a move would be legal.
At that time, Quinn said lawmakers should move ahead with legislation for a special election if Burris doesn't quit in a "reasonable" amount of time, which Quinn gave as two weeks.
But today, Quinn backed away from that position.
“I think there should be a special election, you can not have a special election unless the incumbent resigns, the incumbent has said he will not resign,” Quinn said.
Quinn said his shift in focus from Burris to the state budget had nothing to do with comments from African American alderman warning that he and other politicians were risking the support of the black community.
“My fight is for the people of Illinois, to help their economy, to help their schools, to help their health care,” Quinn said. “I think the other matters of politics, if I have no control over it, then we have to focus on the real things for people who live from paycheck to paycheck all over this state."
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Ald. Ed Smith (28th) said they were happy with the outcome of the meeting with Quinn, saying it’s time to get past politics and down to work.
“In the final analysis, we’ve got to put this issue behind us,” said Smith. “Roland Burris isn’t going any place, |
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