Meeks Won't Run For Another Term In State Senate
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Rev. and State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) is the latest in a line of Chicago area lawmakers who have decided not to seek re-election.
WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports that Meeks joins State Sens. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) and State Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) in declining to seek another term.
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UIC Political Science Professor Dick Simpson said he's not surprised at the turnover in the Legislature. He said campaigning and fundraising every two or four years can be grueling, on top of handling constituent services and working on other legislative duties.
"I never met anybody who really liked to raise money as a candidate. Raising it for other people isn't so hard and raising it for charity isn't, but to raise it for when you're running yourself can be very draining and some people find that very hard," Simpson said.
Simpson also said it's just not as much fun to be a lawmaker when budgets are shrinking and taxes are rising.
"It's not any fun to be part of cutting budgets and raising taxes. It's much more fun to be in an era of affluence when you can create new programs to do new things," Simpson said.
Meeks entered the race for mayor last year, but pulled out two months before the February election.
