Two Dartmouth alumni, economist and author Charles Wheelan '88 and Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand '88, D-N.Y., face stiffening competition in their efforts to be appointed to political positions vacated by incoming members of the Obama administration.
Wheelan, a lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, is seeking the Democratic nomination in the open primary for Illinois' 5th District congressional seat, formerly held by White House Chief-of-Staff designate Rahm Emanuel.
Gillibrand is a potential appointee for the Senate seat to be vacated by Secretary of State nominee Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
Wheelan's race includes 10 declared candidates. Because he has gathered more than 4,000 signatures, Wheelan is among four candidates with enough support to potentially have his name on the first line of the ballot. Candidates who do not amass enough signatures by the Monday deadline, however, can still remain in the race.
Wheelan is fourth in preliminary fundraising, and had amassed almost $110,000 by the end of December, the first filing deadline, he said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, leads in early fundraising with a reported $300,000 as of Dec. 31, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Other candidates who have raised at least as much money as Wheelan include former Homeland Security official Justin Oberman, who reported raising $140,000, and physician Victor Forys, who raised $160,000. County Commissioner Mike Quigley, who had not reported by the deadline, told the Sun-Times that he expects to match Feigenholtz's numbers.
Wheelan's chances to win the nomination are slim despite his strong fundraising numbers, Dick Simpson, chair of the University of Illinois-Chicago Political Science department, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
"Charles Wheelan is not listed as a major candidate," Simpson wrote. "Although he is said to have raised $100,000, which is very respectable at this stage, he is not well-known in the district."
Simpson added that many other candidates have better name recognition, more precinct workers to turn out the vote, and more money in the long run than Wheelan.
Wheelan explained that he will focus on distinguishing himself from the other candidates, who he said lack his economic qualifications, in the coming month and a half.
"America's lost 500,000 jobs in the last two months, so this race is focusing relentlessly on the economy, and I'm basically the economics guy," Wheelan said. "So then the question is: Do you want an economics guy or someone from the Chicago farm league?"
Wheelan added that he thought the other candidates, most of whom are local elected officials, are "quite good people," but that their public images are tainted by the recent corruption scandal plaguing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Gillibrand also faces difficulties in her potential appointment as she has been overshadowed in the press by the candidacy of Caroline Kennedy and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo's aides, according to media reports, have worked hard lobbying on his behalf.
Lawrence Mead III, a professor at New York University's Wagner School of Public Affairs, said Cuomo and Kennedy appear to be the most likely appointees, but no one can know what is happening out of the public's view. The governor must weigh a number of factors, Mead added.
"New York needs an efficient senator, maybe with Washington experience, who can explain why we need so much money," Mead said, referencing the current financial crisis, New York's ballooning deficit and potential bailout requests.
Mead added that the media may overlook some candidates, like Gillibrand, until they are appointed because they are unknown nationally, despite having high profiles in New York.
"It's hard for someone without insider information to gauge the relative weight of those considerations for [New York Gov. David Paterson]," Mead said.
Neither Gillibrand nor Paterson's offices would comment on the congresswoman's potential candidacy. Gillibrand's press secretary, Rachel McKenny, said Gillibrand and her staff were "respecting the governor's decision making process."
Glenn Thrush, the congressional columnist for the online news organization Politico, wrote last week that an alleged feud between Gillibrand and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may also hurt Gillibrand's chances.
He said Gillibrand's pursuit of a seat on the Ways and Means committee, without Pelosi's permission, supposedly annoyed the speaker.
The seat eventually went to a more senior New York Democrat, as Thrush contended Pelosi originally wanted. Thrush could not be reached for comment by press time.
