Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who had been publicly mulling a 2010 Senate campaign for the seat formerly held by President Obama — and currently held by Roland Burris — has put out this YouTube, announcing that she will not be making the race, after all:
Schakowsky said that her polling and travels around the state convinced her that she could have won — but the pressures of raising enough money would have distracted her from her work in progress on issues like health care. “I feel confident that I could raise the $10 million dollars needed for a primary race — and the $16 million plus needed for a general election campaign,” she said, “but to do it I would have to become a telemarketer five to six hours each day.”
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is currently running in the Democratic primary, and businessman Chris Kennedy — a son of Robert Kennedy — is expected to get in soon. Roland Burris has not announced whether he will run.
