Wise Startup Blog

So now that we know Obama has won the Presidency, who is going to be taking over his Senate seat in Illinois? His seat will be vacated when he leaves office in January and assumes the role as President, so who are possible replacements for President-Elect Barack Obama?

There are a number of possible replacements for Obama, but there are a couple of frontrunners starting to line up.

Jesse Jackson Jr.

Born March 11, 1965) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois’s 2nd congressional district, which includes the southeast suburbs of Chicago, part of the Chicago South Side and a small portion of the southeast side of Chicago. The son of activist and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, he has served the 2nd district since winning a special election on December 12, 1995 to fill the seat vacated by Mel Reynolds. His wife, Sandi Jackson, serves on the Chicago City Council. He serves as a national co-chairman of the Barack Obama presidential campaign.

Jesse White

Jesse White (born June 23, 1934) is a Democratic American politician. He is currently the 37th Secretary of State of Illinois, the first African-American to hold this position.

White was born in Alton, Illinois. He attended Alabama State University, where he played baseball and basketball, and he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1957. He served in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army from 1957-1959. In May 1995, White was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. He was an all-city baseball and basketball player at Chicago’s Waller High School (now Lincoln Park Academy) and was inducted into the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June 1995. In 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama State University Sports Hall of Fame.

Lisa Madigan

Lisa Madigan (born July 30, 1966 in Chicago) is the current and 41st Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois, and the first woman to hold the post. She is a Democrat. Madigan was an Illinois Senator from 1998 through 2002. In 2002 she ran for Attorney General and narrowly defeated Joe Birkett in 2002 with 50.4% of the vote. In 2006 she was re-elected with 72.4% of the vote against Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stewart “Stu” Umholtz.

She is considered a potential candidate for Governor of Illinois or the United States Senate in the near future. If Senator Barack Obama is elected President in 2008, she is considered a possible candidate to be appointed to Obama’s seat.

Dan Hynes

Daniel W. Hynes (born July 20, 1968 in Chicago) is currently the Comptroller of the State of Illinois. He attended St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, where he graduated in 1986. Daniel Hynes later attended the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1990 with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in economics and computer applications. He received his Juris Doctor degree with honors from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law in 1993. Daniel Hynes served as a health care attorney at the Chicago law firm of Hogan, Marren and McCahill, Ltd.

He is the son of Thomas Hynes a former Cook County assesor, president of the Illinois Senate and Democratic Ward committeeman of the 19th ward in Chicago, Illinois.

Replacement Serves Until 2010

Regardless of who takes over the seat, they will have the ability to serve out Obama’s term up until 2010, at which point they would most likely run for re-election, and keeping the seat in Democratic hands.