Progress Illinois

Earlier this week, the filing period for the 5th Congressional District special election came to an end with 26 candidates in the race (15 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and 5 Greens). But will that many end up on the ballot? Thanks to the petition challenging process, probably not. The deadline for filing such challenges is Monday, so stay tuned.

In other 5th District news, Tom Geogheghan recorded a 45-minute interview with veteran journalist William Greider that's well worth a listen. Also this morning, the campaign highlighted some recent headlines pertaining to lawsuits filed by Geoghegan's law firm. The post concludes: "Fighting for workers, and fighting for the public schools: those are the kinds of things Tom’s law practice have been about."

Meanwhile, Sara Feigenholtz released the following web video this week, which features State Reps. Julie Hamos, Elaine Nekritz, and Susana Mendoza:

Finally, John Fritchey was endorsed by the Teamsters Joint Council 25 and the Operating Engineers Local 150. He also spoke out in favor of a federal court's decision to strike down the Illinois law requiring a moment of silence in public schools. From a press release:

“I applaud the court’s decision to protect our schools, teachers and schoolchildren,” said Fritchey, adding, “I support the decision of any individual to use the moment of silent reflection for prayer, but this should be an individual choice and not a state imposed mandate."

UPDATE: Capitol Fax has more news. Justin Oberman has apparently dropped out of the race and the lottery for the top three ballot spots was conducted today.

UPDATE II: Mike Quigley's issues page is up-and-running and includes a page devoted to the economic stimulus.

Come to the 5th Congressional District Democratic candidate forum on Sunday, February 1