The Big Fifth Race

Although it's the Congressional district directly below mine, I have to admit that I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the special election to replace Rahm Emanual in the Illinois Fifth District. The primary vote is tomorrow, though, so if it's your district, if you're not ready by now, you'd better do your research quick. There are twenty-three candidates representing the Democratic, Republican, and Green parties, so there's plenty of room to find the candidate most tailored to your preferences. For a little bit of help, Chicago Public Radio has interviews with most of the candidates.

All expectations are for an extremely low turnout, so a handful of votes could sway the election. This is a heavily Democratic district, so it's expected that whoever wins the Democratic primary will go on to win the general special election on April 7. Whoever has a plurality of the votes will take the nomination, so if ever there was an election in which every vote counts, excepting perhaps the Minnesota senatorial election, this is the one. If you're in the Illinois Fifth District, be sure to go out and make your voice heard.