Madigan for Senate? Democrats snubbing Giannoulias

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) says the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is reaching out to her in hopes that she’ll run for Senate instead of governor.

“They have told me polls show me doing very well,” Madigan told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Madigan said the governor’s race is still her first choice, and it’s hard to see her switching up her plans, but this can’t be pleasing to state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D), the heretofore frontrunner on the Democratic side.

Problems with Giannoulias’s stewardship of a college savings program have begun to bring the treasurer’s baggage to the forefront, and with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) possibly providing the GOP a shot at a takeover, its looks like some big-name Democrats are looking elsewhere.

Businessman Chris Kennedy (D), the son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, has also seen his name floated in recent days.

The DSCC declined to comment on its recruiting in the race.

–Aaron Blake