Within a half-week of cohosting a Washington fundraiser with Senator Marco Rubio for 14th congressional candidate Jim Oberweis, Congressman Francis Rooney (R, FL-19) announced he would not seek reelection next year to his safe Republican district.
Given the report in an article posted on POLITICO yesterday, Rooney’s announcement caught everyone by surprise.
In recent days, Rooney had floated he may vote for impeachment of President Trump. Additionally, Rooney is the only cosponsor to proposed federal legislation to establish a “carbon tax”.
The POLITICO article can be accessed in the following embedded tweet:
As mentioned in the tweet, Jim Oberweis’ wife has been a resident of Florida since 2012, and the Oberweis’ own a condo in Bonita Springs, FL, which is in the 19th district. Legally, Mrs. Oberweis could run for the seat.
When Jim Oberweis announced his 2020 candidacy for Congress back in February, Chicago Sun-Times DC bureau chief Lynn Sweet confirmed Oberweis’ wife is still a resident in Florida.
Whether that has changed in the past 8 months is unknown. She has an active voter registration on the Kane County clerk’s website, but that could be a holdover from when she voted in Illinois through 2011.
Posted on Oberweis 2020 Facebook page 10/17/19
Or might Jim Oberweis relocate to FL and seek the Republican congressional nomination there? To do so would mean he’d have to resign his state senate seat, but the funds he’s raised for the 14th could be used in a congressional campaign in another district, even in another state.
While the presidential primary in Florida is the same day as the Illinois primary, down-ballot nominations will not be determined until the August 18 primary election. So if Oberweis’ 14th district Republican nomination falls short in March, could he legally run for Congress in Florida in August?
My guess is Oberweis isn’t going anywhere yet, and his wife will make her own decision what to do for the August Florida congressional primary.
Speaking of Florida, and as previously reported, Senator Marco Rubio comes to Illinois on Friday as the headliner for a luncheon fundraiser for Oberweis in Oak Brook. McHenry County Republican Chairman Diane Evertsen is on the Host Committee:
So many RINOs , so much intrigue.
Mr.& Mrs. Oberweis: On Capital Steps, whimsically dreaming of D.C. hobnobery, with like-minded D.C. garbage people.
Mr. $ Mrs. D J: Drunk in a picturesque Mexican Cantina, being serenaded by a Mariachi Band and Dancing Senoritas.
Maybe Oberboy should run in FL. An anti-Trump/climate change RINO-kook is not the very best of co-hosts!
Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington DC riding a train in 1861 (I’m sure my sunshine blogger remembers). Jim Oberweis will make his way there in true McHenry County fashion: riding a cow. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, moooooooooooooooooooooo…
Jim O: I think that was a ‘Co-Hosting Major Fail’ How the hell did you pick those two losers?
Maybe he’ll be riding into Washington on one of these —
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2gu7dLmFphk/S8Zjpg7LxwI/AAAAAAAAXbM/b1EAHpNufpk/s1600/get-attachment.aspx+jjgjgiiiiii++3.jpg
The idea of Julie Oberweis running for Congress in Florida is a complete fantasy.
This ridiculous post is an excuse to expose again an ancient piece of oppo research about her legal residency in Florida.
While I have not endorsed a candidate in this race, I will call out bad reporting, or phony, unqualified candidates (like Catalina Lauf).
One was beginning to wonder whom Mr. Zahm was working for, and he answered one of my research questions before I finished reviewing all of the candidates’ Form 3 filings from last week.
“Oppo research”? Wrong, just a matter of record, and fact it was confirmed by the Sun-Times back in February shows it is not forgotten. Whether that will be used in the upcoming campaign remains to be seen, and we remember what happened back in 2014 when Doug Truax tried to use that.
As to what is “bad reporting” or “phony unqualified candidates”, just a reminder, opinions vary.
As for whom Mr. Zahm is “endorsing”, my guess is it will be the campaign that pays him.
So Milk Shake Jim is down in Florida (why else run around in white pants) hitting the early bird specials while claiming Illinois residency through his cows?
Catalina Fluff maybe be even beyond unqualified but she does live in Illinois.
Heinrich, It’s a good thing Cal doesn’t require being “qualified” to post here or you wouldn’t make the cut.
The only qualifications for being elected are age and residency.
Please tell us how she is “unqualified”, and anymore “unqualified” than Underwood was 2 years ago.
Zahmn is right. This story based on pure imagination.
I thought it was going to be about this retiring congressman and his relationship to Trump or his relationship to Jim Oberweis, and instead it turned into a fantasy story about what Jim or his wife might do if he loses the primary.
Heinrich, Jim Oberweis serves in the Illinois Senate.
You have to live in the legislative district to represent it, and to run for U.S. House you have to live within the state.
Whatever his living arrangement is, neither the law nor the people seem to mind because he’s been in the Illinois Senate since 2012.
Heinrich never lets facts get in the way.
He’d make a good replacement for Fake News scribbler Eddie Kommenda.
But he better hurry because the birdcage liner days are numbered.
Zahm is a good man, from a good home.
John Lopez, I don’t know who is paying you, if anyone, but your biases are bleeding through. I have turned down two paying opportunities in this district so far.
If I take one it will be because I believe in the candidate, not because of the money.
The only reason Randy Hultgren defeated Ethan Hastert in 2010 is because my well paying client Jim Purcell agreed to drop out and we then endorsed and worked for Randy and we helped convince Jeff Danklefsen to do likewise.
And we never received a dime from Hultgren.
But we stopped Hastert.
At the height of his power before the truth about him came out.
Hultgren, what a mutton.
Congressman Namby-Pamby.
Now a lobbyist making far more. POS!
He wanted to lose, and somehow managed to do it to a complete zeroid.
Well well, isn’t today’s (Thursday,10/24) POLITICO notebook interesting:
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2019/10/24/lightfoots-budget-bonanza-florida-gop-courts-oberweis-pences-pit-stop-487505
While it didn’t mention Mrs. Oberweis, it looks like I’m not the only one musing of an Oberweis congressionall run in Florida.
And I love the way Shia Kapos pierces Oberweis’ campaign manager’s assessment of the primary here in Illinois.
I’ll definitely be writing about that piece, soon.
Especially the hay the DCCC posted earlier this week.
https://dccc.org/rooney-retirement-announcement-dccc-urges-florida-resident-jim-oberweis-move-home-run-fl-19