roland burris

I’ve just gotten my hands on the transcript of last Thursday’s Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on czars. There’s a lot in there, but the first thing I want to highlight is the dramatically incoherent testimony of Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.). I don’t know where to start with it. But Burris, [...]

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) has been nothing if not a reliable vote for Democratic leaders since his controversial appointment last December by disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). But that’s threatening to change. In an eyebrow-raising interview with The Associated Press over the weekend, Burris reiterated an earlier vow to stake his support for [...]

Chris Cillizza has the scoop:
Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk (R) will not run for the open seat of Sen. Roland Burris (D) in 2010, a stunning reversal from just 48 hours ago when Kirk signaled to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) that he would make the race.
As we noted yesterday, when Burris [...]

Roland Burris, the scandal-plagued accidental senator from Illinois, will not seek his own term in the Senate. The Chicago Sun-Times has the scoop:
The decision by Burris was based on his inability to raise campaign funds; campaign disclosures with the Federal Election Commission are expected to be filed next week … and he has reportedly only [...]

Politico teases out whether former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) will abandon his legal campaign to aid Republican filibusters and run for governor in 2010.
“This race is wide open,” said Sarah Janacek, a Republican activist in the state and editor of a newsletter on state politics. “Coleman’s experience, contacts and donor base should not be discounted [...]

Following yesterday’s release of a secretly taped conversation between Roland Burris and the brother of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), there’s been a great deal of focus on Burris’ vow to “personally do something” for the governor “before the 15th of December.”
The governor was arrested six days before the Dec. 15 deadline, so we’ll [...]

Just how many political lives does Roland Burris have?
The Democratic senator from Illinois — appointed to the upper chamber in January amid a wave of controversy over then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), who tapped Burris for the post — has distanced himself from his disgraced appointer skillfully enough to have kept his seat this long despite [...]

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet writes today that Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), who occupies President Obama’s old seat, recently told her he believes his experience and knowledge of both Illinois and Washington have helped him adjust to his new job.
“I am right on course,” Burris told Sweet, who reports that Burris is calling on Democratic Party leaders to support [...]

Just as they lose Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Republicans are getting a few breaks that could sustain them through the 2010 cycle.
- Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), one of the last Republican stars in suburban Chicago, is considering running for President Obama’s old Senate seat, currently occupied by Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), who has reached an [...]

Senate Democratic leaders have agreed to seat Roland Burris after a week-long battle to prevent him from replacing President-elect Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois.
Burris was appointed Dec. 30 by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, less than a month after the governor was arrested for allegedly scheming to “sell” the seat.