It's hard to tell how accurate this report in, but CNN is reporting that President-elect Barack Obama would like Valerie Jarrett to be named as a replacement in the U.S. Senate.
A prominent Democratic source close to Obama said Jarrett is also Obama's choice to be named to take over his seat in the Senate, though Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would have the final say over a replacement.
I do not know anything about her, but this is what I found in Wikipedia.
Chicago politics
Jarrett got her start in Chicago politics in 1987 working for Mayor Harold Washington[6] as Deputy Corporation Counsel for Finance and Development.[7]
Jarrett continued to work in the mayor's office in the 1990s. She was Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard Daley, during which time (1991) she hired Michelle Robinson, then engaged to Barack Obama, away from a private law firm. Jarrett served as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development from 1992 through 1995, and was Chair of the Chicago Transit Board from 1995 to 2005.[7]
Business career
She is currently the CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company, which she joined in 1995. She was a Member of the Board of Chicago Stock Exchange (2000-2007, as Chairman, 2004-2007).
She is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago Medical Center,[7] Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and a Trustee of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.[8][9] Ms. Jarrett serves on the board of directors of USG Corporation, a Chicago based building materials corporation.
It sounds like Obama wants a plce-holder as opposed to someone who will run for election in 2010. What else do you Chicago kossacks know about her?