RFK's son declines to run for Illinois House seat

November 9, 1999
Web posted at: 6:12 p.m. EST (2312 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Christopher Kennedy, a son of Robert F. Kennedy and an executive at the Chicago Merchandise Mart, has ruled out a run for the Illinois House seat vacated by retiring GOP Rep. John Porter.

In a letter to the state Democratic chairman, Kennedy, 36, cited the needs of his children -- who range in age from 1 to 9 years old -- as the principle reason for his decision to stay out of the race.

In a reference to the assassination of his own father, Kennedy wrote: "I have come to believe that the bullet that kills a father wounds his children. There were a lot of wounded children when I grew up, and extending the difficulties of a single-parent household to another generation would violate the promise I made to myself a thousand times as a child."

Democratic sources say the decision was a disappointment to Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island), Chris Kennedy's cousin and the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But these sources say other Democrats in the race, especially state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash, stand a very good chance of reclaiming the seat for Democrats.

Democrats hope to recapture the House majority in the 2000 election that they lost to Republicans in 1994. The Democrats now have 211 seats and need to reach 218 to take back the majority.

Republican leaders have had a difficult time recruiting a candidate to succeed the moderate Porter. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times that he hoped to persuade Porter to rethink his decision to retire, largely by altering some GOP rules that would have forced Porter to step down from his post as chairman of a key Appropriations subcommittee.

Had Kennedy entered the race, the expense to run for the seat would have jumped significantly. The Kennedys sold the Chicago Merchandise Mart and other holdings in 1998 for a whopping $625 million, giving Chris Kennedy plenty of personal wealth to fund an expensive ad campaign.

Porter announced in October that he his retiring. He is currently serving his 11th term representing the 10th District, which is a Republican-leaning suburban district, but also is socially moderate. The district is north of Chicago along Lake Michigan and includes some of the Chicago area's most affluent communities.

President Bill Clinton carried the district in 1996 and a Democrat won an upset victory in 1998 for an Illinois House seat in the same area. When Porter announced his retirement, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the party viewed the seat as a competitive one.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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RFK's son declines to run for Illinois House seat

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Tuesday, November 9, 1999