Republicans say Democrats are simply afraid of losing the election, particularly if a potential backlash arises from the criminal charges against Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. They say Democrats want to hold onto the power to appoint a senator.
"The people of Illinois deserve better than another political power grab," says a television ad from the Illinois GOP.
The head of the Republican National Committee said the Democrats' insistence on avoiding a special election shows that the party does not value openness and transparency unless it's politically convenient.
The battle over Obama's seat unfolded as a special Illinois House committee met for the first time to consider impeaching Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to auction off the seat to the highest bidder.
The panel's review is expected to include the criminal charges against Blagojevich as well as a long list of other possible wrongdoing during his six years in office: abuse of power, taking action without legal authority, ignoring state laws, and defying lawful requests for information from the General Assembly.
The committee met only briefly, postponing any real action until the governor's attorney arrives today.
But members of the committee, which will make a recommendation on impeachment to the full House, said they will not rush to judgment.
"Let us remember that we're not Alice in Wonderland. We're not the Red Queen. We do not sentence first and then do the verdict," said the chairwoman, Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, a Democrat from Chicago.
Blagojevich was arrested last week at his Chicago home.
Meanwhile, shortly after his 2002 election, Blagojevich told Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. that he didn't appoint the congressman's wife as lottery director because he had refused him a $25,000 campaign donation, a person familiar with the conversation told the Associated Press yesterday.
"Blagojevich went out of his way to say, 'You know I was considering your wife for the lottery job, and the $25,000 you didn't give me? That's why she's not getting the job,' " the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing federal investigation.
