IL: Schakowsky Would Run in a Special Election

The Hill reports that Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) would jump in the Illinois Senate race for embattled Sen. Roland Burris' (D-IL) seat if there is a special election for the seat before 2010.

Schakowsky told The Hill that if the race is held on its scheduled date in November 2010, she will make decision in the next two months.

If she ran for the Senate seat in the November election, she would have to give up her House seat, which she may not think is worth the risk. However, if a special election is held before that time, she has nothing to lose.

If she did join the race--which is expected to draw many candidates on both sides--she would square off against state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (who officially announced that he would run for Burris' seat regardless of the date) and possibly Burris himself, who has not yet announced whether he will run for the seat outright in 2010, but just set up a campaign website.

On the Republican side, the two names that are attracting the most buzz--Reps. Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam--may be faced with the same dilemma as Schakowsky, as they may not want to run for the Senate seat if it means giving up their House seats.

My guess is that Burris won't resign and that there will be no special election--and that he'll run in the regularly scheduled 2010 election. So if that's the case, we'll see what Schakowsky, Kirk and Roskam decide to do.