Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) wanted to appoint Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) to the Senate, but Davis told him that he wouldn’t accept an appointment to the open seat, reports the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.
Davis told Sweet that he met with Blagojevich’s lawyer last week out of respect for the governor’s office. But Davis told the lawyer that he would not take the job if he was offered it.
“It would be difficult to generate the trust level people would have to have in me,” Davis told Sweet. “I just decided there was too much turmoil, too much disagreement. It was something I wanted to do, but I said I would not take an appointment from the governor.”
Blagojevich faces federal charges that he tried to sell the open seat, which was vacated by President-elect Obama. The governor said he would appoint Roland Burris, a former Illinois state comptroller and attorney general, to the seat on Tuesday. Senate Democrats have said they would refuse to seat Burris or any other Blagojevich appointment.