Sen. Roland Burris Will Not Run for Election in 2010

Sen. Roland Burris, who has next to no campaign cash, no political operation and no support from any major Democrat in Illinois or national politics, will not run to keep the seat in 2010, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Burris raised little more than $800 in the first quarter of the year, and his second quarter only yielded about $20,000.

When I talked to Burris in May about whether he would run for the seat he was appointed to by the tainted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, he told me, "Lynn . . . if you don't have money, whether or not you say you are going to run is not relevant. . . . You take away your option."

The decision means very little when it comes to Illinois politics, since Burris, even if he had run, was not seen as a significant factor, and no one thought he could survive an Illinois Senate Democratic primary. Burris will announce his decision during a speech in Chicago Friday afternoon.

Burris was clouded with controversy from the start, when he accepted an appointment from the now ousted Blagojevich to fill the vacancy created when then-Sen. Barack Obama was elected president.

After Blagojevich was dragged off by federal agents last Dec. 9 and arrested, Democrats in Illinois banded together and declared they would not accept an appointment by the governor. That is, all Democrats but one --Burris, a political has-been who failed in several attempts for statewide office despite serving as attorney general and comptroller.

Blagojevich lined up Burris, an African-American, to replace Obama, the only African-American in the Senate, after Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the Obama appointment in exchange for a job and/or campaign donations.

Blagojevich's former chief of staff, John Harris, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with, among other things, Blagojevich's alleged seat-selling scheme.

The decision by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Wednesday to seek a third term and not run for the Senate or governor gave a green light for other Democrats to move ahead with their Senate campaigns.

Chris Kennedy, who runs the Merchandise Mart properties in Chicago and other cities and who is the son of Bobby Kennedy, is poised to get in the race. Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is already running. Chicago Urban League chief Cheryle Jackson, a former spokesman for Blagojevich, created an exploratory committee this week.

Burris tried and failed in May to line up support from Democrats for an election bid.

In a Sun-Times column I wrote in May, I noted that "Burris has had substantial fallout to deal with from his stormy beginning in the Senate -- stemming mostly from whether he gave misleading statements about his dealings with Blagojevich cronies while Blagojevich was under federal investigation for, among other corruption charges, allegedly trying to sell Obama's seat. He has hanging over him a Senate Ethics Committee probe and a Sangamon County state's attorney investigation.

Despite calls for him to resign -- Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate assistant majority leader, said if he were in Burris' shoes, he would quit -- Burris dug in. "I'm not going anywhere," Burris told me. "I didn't pay any attention to that."

The Sangamon County prosecutor decided not to press perjury charges against Burris. Burris still has the Senate ethics probe hanging over him -- but since he is now a short-timer in the Senate, the fallout from that will not matter.