Embattled Democratic U.S. Sen. Roland Burris is expected to announce tomorrow that he will not seek election next year to the seat that he was appointed to by disgraced then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, sources said today.
The senator is scheduled to make his decision known at a 2 p.m. news conference at a South Side hotel in a "speech to Illinois youth," according to an advisory put out by his office late this afternoon.
A top source close to the senator said that since starting in the U.S. Senate, Burris wasn’t sure he could handle the grueling schedule of fundraising and trying to be a senator, especially in an environment where his popularity waned and “the tide was against him.”
Burris thought it would be very difficult to raise the campaign cash he’d need to win the Democratic nomination, let alone the general election, the source said. But Burris plans to stay in office until his term ends in January 2011, the source added.
The senator is scheduled to make his decision known at a 2 p.m. news conference at a South Side hotel in a "speech to Illinois youth," according to an advisory put out by his office late this afternoon.
A top source close to the senator said that since starting in the U.S. Senate, Burris wasn’t sure he could handle the grueling schedule of fundraising and trying to be a senator, especially in an environment where his popularity waned and “the tide was against him.”
Burris thought it would be very difficult to raise the campaign cash he’d need to win the Democratic nomination, let alone the general election, the source said. But Burris plans to stay in office until his term ends in January 2011, the source added.
