Apr 28, 2008 6:16 pm US/Central
Former Schools Chief Hints At Run For Governor
Paul Vallas Lost Narrowly To Gov. Rod Blagojevich In 2002
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas spoke to the City Club April 28, 2008. He hinted at a possible run for the governor's mansion.
CBS
Illinois Democrats are already looking past Gov. Rod Blagojevich and to the future. Paul Vallas, who lost to Blagojevich by a scant 21,000 votes in 2002, is back.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, Vallas looks like he's getting ready to run again.
A standing ovation greeted Vallas Monday at a City Club luncheon. The former chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools, who now runs the system in New Orleans, used the forum to send the strongest signals yet that he wants to replace Blagojevich as governor of Illinois.
Vallas told the crowd he plans to work in New Orleans only one more year. He said he's now a commuter, and that he and his wife, Sharon, moved with their children to a home in the southwest suburbs last summer.
He declined to talk directly about the incumbent, but with federal investigators unveiling new corruption allegations against the Blagojevich Administration almost daily, Vallas said he shares the feelings of most Illinoisans.
"I feel frustrated and angered. And, look, I think I could have made a difference," Vallas said. "Clearly, I could have gotten along with the legislature much better."
With Blagojevich's voter approval rating at only 13 percent, the long list of potential candidates includes his lieutenant governor, Patrick Quinn.
"I wouldn't rule out anything," Quinn said. "But, I think that's really not really what people want right now. They don't want a lot of candidates runnin' for governor two or three years from now."
Lt. Gov. Quinn urged Vallas to join him in pushing the State Senate to approve a measure by next Sunday's deadline that would allow Illinoisans to vote this fall on the right to recall governors and other public officials.
Vallas said he's not going to get involved in those sorts of battles until next year at the earliest, when his commitment to the New Orleans public schools expires.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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