State Officials Begin Scrambling For Soon-To-Be Vacated Seats Of Biden, Obama

November 7, 2008 10:42 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner are set to appoint replacements for the seats of Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Joe Biden (D-DE).

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), who was a national co-chairman of the Obama campaign and son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, is reportedly a frontrunner for the president-elect's Senate seat. Jackson issued a statement a week before election day saying he would be "honored and humbled" to be Obama's successor but that "in the end, the decision rests with Gov. Blagojevich, and I'm confident that he'll make an appointment in the best interest of the state as well as the nation."

Other contenders for Obama's seat, which he won in 2004, include U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), the U.S. House chief deputy whip, and Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and the Democratic candidate for the seat of U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) in 2006.

State Comptroller Dan Hynes and state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who are reportedly in the running for Illinois governor in 2010, are also being floated as possible successors to Obama in the Senate.

In Delaware, the top contender for Biden's seat is his son, state Attorney General Beau Biden. But the appointment of Biden's successor is clouded by the fact that Minner's term ends on Jan. 20, the same day Obama is inaugurated as the new president. The 65-year old senator's son is also currently in Iraq and is scheduled to serve until October 2009.

Both Blagojevich and Minner are expected to appoint Democrats, being one themselves. Their appointees will stay in office until the next elections in 2010.