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Report: GOP Congressman Jerry Weller Will Retire
Another Congressional Republican is headed for the door. Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) will reportedly announce tomorrow that he is not seeking re-election.
President Bush carried his district with 53% in 2004, and Weller was re-elected with 55% in 2006. With those non-landslide margins in a district that simply was not targeted, we might just see the Democrats trying for a pick-up in a possible wave election next year.
Weller is perhaps best known for a series of land deals in Nicaragua and for his marriage to Guatemalan Congresswoman Zury Ríos Montt, daughter of former right-wing dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.
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Another huge headache for the GOP, as if they didn't have enough.
September 19, 2007 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I expect more announcements before the end of the year. Things are only getting worse for the Republicans with each failing day in Iraq and the exposure of more corruption. Now that they are in the minority again it is becoming apparent to many of them that they will remain as such for at least one more term.
September 19, 2007 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The only answer is to vote all of the Republicans out. A majority of senators voted today to give our soldiers enough rest before sending them back to Iraq again and again - but these disgusting Republicans can't even do what's decent for
the troops. I voted for McCain at one time and I voted for Lieberman once. These are votes that I look back on in disgust. They don't know what's right for America anymore and they don't care.
September 19, 2007 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Married to the daughter of a former right-wing dictator:
Here's hoping they do NOT go forth and multiply.
September 19, 2007 8:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, Jerry Weller's district is wingnut territory, you could be a dead republican and still beat a live democrat in this neck of the woods.
September 19, 2007 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yay!!! I live in the district next to his - even though he won at 55% the district is trending Democratic. Any credible Dem can win this district with the advantage of incumbency lifted. Plus the Illinois Republican party currently sucks.
September 19, 2007 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
In Illinois you have to have your petitions turned in by 11/05 this year to get on the primary ballot.
That doesn't leave a lot of time for replacements to get on the ballot here if others are thinking of bailing. Weller didn't really have much choice. With the recent exposes of his land dealing in Central America he has a better chance of going to prison than he had of going back to Congress in 09.
September 19, 2007 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good riddance to this in-law of a fascist dictator, tied into the corrupt political practices of a Banana Republic.
This is the kind of district that might be trending purple but is still basically red, and the GOP bench of local elected officials is doubtlessly deeper than that on our side. Here's hoping we can find a strong candidate for the general election.
September 19, 2007 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of wave elections in 2008, I'd like to start seeing a critical eye being turned toward the implications and desirability of one-party rule by the Democrats. This is turning into a distinct possibility and I'm not hopeful of the benefits of this situation.
September 19, 2007 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most definitely NOT wingnut territory. I'm originally from there and have always wondered why the Dems did not campaign harder for that seat--a better candidate could have beat him last time.
By the way, not only was his father-in-law a right wing dictator from Guatemala, but he was in power during the worst portion of the military killings of peasants during the 1980s: 300,000 people were killed while he was in charge. He was also the first Evangelical leader of a Central American nation (and maybe all of Latin America). Part of his rhetoric was that he wanted to make Guatemala into a Christian Nation.
September 19, 2007 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ya'll are missing the republican strategy. Our attack front is going to be so wide that our resources will be depleted well before the election and we'll be mopped up in detail
September 19, 2007 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
As my mother used to say,"There`s another lemon out of circulation."
September 19, 2007 9:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of wave elections in 2008, I'd like to start seeing a critical eye being turned toward the implications and desirability of one-party rule by the Democrats. This is turning into a distinct possibility and I'm not hopeful of the benefits of this situation.
Then go find better Republicans. Shouldn't be harder than finding an honest crook.
September 19, 2007 9:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jerry's land deals are real. The marriage? Well, let's say when it comes to "love" he has more in common with Sen. Craig than the Clenis. Also, he wears colored blue contacts, giving him a really really wierd look. But one hell of a campaigner. Much better chance of winning against some newbody.
September 19, 2007 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
WS, it's best not to write about things you know nothing about.
Since it straddles the upstate/downstate divide, this is a district that's very likely to disappear after the 2010 census, unless it goes Democratic first.
Weller would become the third downstate Republican to announce his retirement, after LaHood and Hastert. That leaves only Shimkus and Johnson from south of I-80.
The danger is that we'll get another Rahm Emanuel-backed candidate in the Democratic primary. The House is safe enough now that we should turn our attention from getting a Democratic majority to getting a progressive majority. Getting another Melissa Bean or Dan Lipinski may have the effect of making it more difficult to get progressive change in the next 6 years, which will be the best window of opportunity in 40 years.
Let's run somebody good, in case we win.
September 19, 2007 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ya'll are missing the republican strategy. Our attack front is going to be so wide that our resources will be depleted well before the election and we'll be mopped up in detail
that's stupid.
September 19, 2007 9:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am so pleased... my brother announced a week ago that he was taking Weller on... obviously Weller couldn't stand the heat...
September 19, 2007 9:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Debbie Halvorson (State Senate Majority Leader) gets in the race it would be a big recruiting pickup and would probably clear the field.
But Jerry Weber, Kankakee Community College President is close to announcing too (http://weberforcongress.com). If Halvorson decides to wait for State Senate Presidency then Weber is a solid backup.
I think the dems are in good shape in the 11th.
September 19, 2007 10:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most of the 11th district IS wingnut territory. But it also includes Joliet, which balances it out. It's winnable.
September 20, 2007 12:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
From reading the Chicago Tribune article, I think some of Weller's antics could lead to indictments. Mainly for Income Tax evasion, or if he filed some sort of Capital loss on this income taxes, given the he undervalued his transactions.
Weller resigning his seat like this is quite strange, I realize he is going to issue a press release, and it will state he wants to spend more time with his family. However, he has been either quiet or hasn't explain any of this, even though he would had a defense for this because it was part of the election in 2006.. Something is very fishy about this. I am curious if the DOJ subpoenas Weller and/or his office. He could probably skate by the House Ethics Violations with a reprimand or something else, but the thing that comes to mind when reading the article is income tax evasion, mainly figeting Capital Losses.
September 20, 2007 2:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Candace Gorman:
Good Luck to your brother.
I think its important for readers to know, however, that Bob Gorman has ran and won multiple local races as a Republican and ran as a Republican against Marty Russo former IL Dem Congressman.
So welcome to the party Bob. We are glad you are here but you might have to wait in line behind some people that have been here a lot longer than you.
September 20, 2007 7:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
WOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I read this bit of news and did a jig in my seat at work. I was supposed to have met him during inauguration weekend in 2001 and he stood up the group I was with. Twice. While we were waiting outside in the rain. So yeah, good riddance, Jerry.
Now if only a Dem had a shot in hell of winning down here in Louisiana (where I live now), I'd feel a little better...
September 20, 2007 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
There are a lot of Latino votes to be courted, specially in Joliet. And they could easily swing Democratic. They need to start massive voter registration drives.
September 20, 2007 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
>>Here's hoping they do NOT go forth and multiply.
September 20, 2007 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is very welcome news. But Weller's already been slipping in his district, despite his Democrat opponents getting little to no support from the national party. John Pavich got a respectable 45% of the vote in '06 (I live in the district, which is indeed wingnut territory) despite Rahm Emanuel throwing most of the Illinois dollars behind Melissa Bean (who won a tough reelection for Phil Crane's old seat) and Tammy Duckworth (who lost the race for Henry Hyde's old seat) in the GOP strongholds of DuPage, McHenry and Lake Counties. National party support and a strong experienced candidate will win this district.
September 20, 2007 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
IL Dem wrote on September 20,
I think its important for readers to know, however, that Bob Gorman has ran and won multiple local races as a Republican and ran as a Republican against Marty Russo former IL Dem Congressman.
So ask him the hard questions. Get him to post the answers.
Does he believe in liberty and justice for all? Or only for rich white men? Is he willing to say loud and proud that Iraq was stupid, wasteful, and wrong and needs to be stopped yesterday? Or is he a pointless hawk? Just what does he believe, and what is he willing to do about it?
Lipinski is a disgrace to Illinois. That he was ever allowed to run in the first place shows that the Illinois Democratic party needs a good housecleaning.
September 20, 2007 11:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank God Weller is gone. I'm a Democrat & live in Frankfort, which is an upscale suburb (sort of like a very small Naperville) in Jerry Weller's district. Nearly all my neighbors are Me-Generation Yuppie wannabees who in the past have voted Republican because it was fashionable when they were in college. However they mostly come from old-fashioned Democrat working class families, so considering how badly Bush has screwed things up, I think they're ready to cross over & vote Democrat in the next election. As early posts have noted, Joliet is in the district & it has a large Black & Hispanic population, so I think it will go Democratic, however the rest of the district is mostly rural. The Democrats have to keep campaigning in white working class areas to remind poor & middle income people that the Republican party is not their friend. Otherwise the Democrats will keep losing elections. I think John Edwards is doing the best job of hammering home this point. I think the Democrat dream ticket is Edwards & Obama in either order. I don't think white working class people can relate to Hillary.
September 21, 2007 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink