IT'S ON!

It's no secret that I would love to see Christine Cegelis represent Illinois' 6th congressional district -- the seat currently occupied by Hank Hyde.

Christine posted an insightful diary on Daily Kos last night about last year's campaign and her next run at the seat.

In September of 2003 I made a decision that would forever change my life. I had spent some time soul searching about the direction of the country and how it would affect the lives of my children and others in their generation. It seemed critical to me that we needed a better Congress. We needed a Congress that was willing to protect the environment, invest in our future through education, new technologies, and economic development. My current Congressman, Henry Hyde, did not seem willing to vote for any legislation that furthered these goals.

So I decide to run for that seat (IL-06). I received two pieces of advice: don't run if don't have $500,000 of your own money to put into the race, and don't run if you don't plan to run twice. I didn't have the money but I did make the commitment to run twice.

Rick and Carl also made guest appearances in the comments. Rick says we can expect a highly interactive Cegelis site shortly:

We will use most of what the system [a CivicSpace-powered site] has to offer, including an event calendar, individual blogs, threaded forums, and configurable mailing (so anyone with an account can decide how the campaign should communicate with them).

They also plugged this Cegelis fundraiser that will be taking place next week:

"Going for the Green" Fundraiser for Cegelis for Congress
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Location: Cactus Bar and Grill, 404 S. Wells, Chicago
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Includes: two hours open bar plus nacho/taco buffet
Special Guest: Candidate Christine Cegelis
Suggested Donation: $50

(emphasis added)

Remember: It's not too early to hit an open bar for two hours start working on the next election!