Danny Davis (at left)
Rumors are once against circulating that Illinois Rep. Danny Davis, who is 73 and has served in the House for 18 years,
might finally retire. Davis, a Chicago-area Democrat, has unsuccessfully been searching for an escape hatch for nearly a decade: In 2006, he was passed over when Democratic leaders chose Todd Stroger to replace his father, John, who suffered a stroke while seeking re-election as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. In 2008, after Barack Obama was elected president, Gov. Rod Blagojevich reportedly offered to appoint Davis to Obama's Senate seat, but Davis said he turned it down to avoid getting tainted by Blago's growing aura of corruption.
Davis then considered a Senate bid himself but ultimately chose not to run. Instead, he filed for the job he'd missed out on a few years earlier, Cook County president, before abandoning the idea and seeking re-election in 2010. Then he ran for mayor of Chicago ... but dropped out in favor of none other than ex-Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, who got torched by Rahm Emanuel and came in fourth with just 9 percent of the vote.
So yeah, it's safe to say he wants out, but at this point in his career, retirement is probably the only option left to Davis. If he goes, though, plenty of ambitious politicians will be interested in his safely blue 7th Congressional District, and some are already floating their names. Alderman Brendan Reilly says he's considering, while Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin's unexpected recent interest in next year's Senate race might actually be a stalking horse for a more realistic desire to succeed Davis, whom he used to work for.
Illinois has an early filing deadline and an early primary, so we may see some action soon—if, that is, Davis can actually find it in his heart to quit.