Burris won't run in 2010

The Illinois senator had little hope of being elected to a full term

Published July 9, 2009 10:45PM (EDT)

Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., won't run for a full term in 2010, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The paper says he'll officially announce his decision on Friday.

Burris was appointed to his seat by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich; he was filling a vacancy created by Barack Obama's election to the presidency. Blagojevich made the announcement that he was appointing Burris after he was arrested by federal authorities who charged he'd tried to sell the seat -- that led to a battle between Burris and Senate Democrats, who didn't want to seat him.

In another situation, it might be surprising that Burris is now going to give up the seat he fought so hard to get. But the taint of the former governor has remained on him, and it's been clear for some time he would not be able to win in 2010, or even muster any real support for a campaign.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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