Carl Ray of Washington, Ill., and Deirdre Hirner of Springfield, are vying for the Democratic nomination in the 18th Congressional District and hoping for a chance to take on U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock next year.

Schock, a Republican from Peoria, at age 28, is the youngest member of Congress after winning his seat last year. He won the congressional race with nearly 59 percent of the vote.

Ray, an Air Force veteran, has been campaigning for a while and raised less than $2,500 during the July-September reporting period. His campaign had $241 on hand at the end of that quarter.

Hirner was collecting signatures to launch her congressional campaign this week. Bernie Schoenburg of the Springfield State Journal-Register reported on Hirner’s petition work and noted that the Hannibal, Mo., native does not live in the 18th District. However, candidates are allowed to run for U.S. House seats regardless of residency.

Schock had previously served in the Illinois House at age 23 and was elected to the Peoria School Board at age 19. Schock’s campaign had $106,000 on hand at the end of the third quarter.

Two political heavyweights from the Illinois Legislature will be in Quincy within the next week holding fund-raisers and meeting with local supporters.

Senate President John Cullerton will hold a fund-raiser Friday night. House Republican Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, will hold a fund-raiser Tuesday night.

Cullerton’s event will be held at the home of former House member and long-time lobbyist Mike McClain. Cross’ event will be held at the Quincy Country Club.

Cullerton also plans to participate in a public meeting on civic engagement that is being co-hosted by John Wood Community College and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

As one would expect, the legislators from the respective parties will be on hand to introduce their leaders. State Representatives Jil Tracy, Rich Myers and Jim Watson — Republicans from Mount Sterling, Colchester and Jacksonville respectively — will be on hand for the Cross event. State Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, will be at the Cullerton event.

Legislative leaders do visit Western Illinois on occasion, but it does not happen every day, or even every year. So the appearance of two leaders within days of each other is worth noting.

The 2010 election cycle will be the first since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was ousted from office. It looks like leaders in both parties expect the next year to be a busy, and expensive, one.

Postmaster General John E. Potter sent an internal memo out saying that postal rates for the major categories of mail will not see price hikes in the next year, according to The Associated Press.

First-class mail, standard mail, periodicals and single-piece parcel post are included under Potter’s decision.

“While increasing prices might have generated revenue for the Postal Service in the short term, the long-term effect could drive additional mail out of the system,” Potter said, according to The AP.

It’s good to see someone recognize that higher fees are not always a guarantee of higher revenues.

That’s good news for Americans who have been hit by an economic recession. The stable mail rates will be especially welcome for retirees, who will not see a cost-of-living increase in their Social Security checks next year. While many younger people are using more bill-pay and electronic transfer systems, those who are 65 and older still predominantly use USPS services.

Congressional campaign reports were due a few days ago and the numbers are impressive for some.

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, brought in $160,373.50 during the quarter that ended Sept. 30. But he spent $248,029.70. That left him with about $106,000 in his campaign account to start this month.

The Hill notes in its Blog Briefing Room that Schock does not have a challenger yet, but “after spending almost all of his $762,000 raised this cycle … his war chest isn’t scaring anybody.”

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, has $642,878 on hand after raising $178,402 during the quarter and paying out $69,272.

Hare’s challenger, Bobby Schilling, has $10,963 on hand after raising $10,475 and expending $11,752. The disclosure form notes that Schilling has loaned his campaign $10,000 of the $34,000 his campaign has raised so far in this election cycle.

In Missouri, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, Mo., is reported to have $310,000 in cash on hand after raising $111,641 during the quarter. Democrats had hoped to make Luetkemeyer a target in 2010, but may find it difficult to convince Missouri’s conservative to moderate voters to oust him from Congress.

Former Gov. Jim Edgar is expected to endorse his former chief of staff, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, for governor on Monday.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare has announced that he will endorse Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday as well, with a four-city swing that starts in the Quad Cities, goes to Galesburg, Peoria and then Springfield.

Edgar, a Republican, had held off on an endorsement of Dillard in the party’s primary until the field of candidates was pretty well settled. Edgar did not run for re-election to a third term in 1998. He was popular with voters and moderate GOP leaders still consider Edgar a force within the party.

Hare’s endorsement of Quinn draws battle lines between him and Comptroller Dan Hynes, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. Hynes campaign has started running broadcast ads and questioning Quinn’s handling of the cash-strapped state government.

One other Friday announcement involved Mary Boland, the incumbent Democratic State Central Committeewoman in the 17th District. The central committee positions are little noticed by most voters, but are a big deal to party insiders.

Gov. Pat Quinn is scheduled to be in Quincy today as part of a statewide tour calling for restoration of about $200 million for the MAP grant program for college students.

Matt McGrath, communications director for Dan Hynes for Governor, said Quinn is trying to hide the fact that he signed a budget that cut MAP grant funding — putting the education of 138,000 students in jeopardy.

“Quinn needs to take the advice of Dan Hynes and others who are urging him to create a plan for dealing with the state’s enormous backlog of unpaid obligations instead of lurching back and forth and making this up as he goes,” McGrath said in an e-mailed response to a story telling of Quinn’s impending visit.

Quinn later told reporters that Hynes should not be taken serious on budget issues now because he failed to bring forward any ideas for balancing the budget when the Illinois Legislature was working on the plan that eventually passed.

Hynes, who has been the state’s comptroller, has seen the budget problems first-hand. For years Hynes battled with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich over too many commitments for too few dollars.

Quinn points out that he complained about Blagojevich as well. But observers note the criticism was more vocal only after it was obvious that Blagojevich was going to be ousted from office.

Hynes is running television advertisements in Chicago to try to gain name recognition.

Quinn is getting face time in media markets by framing himself as the champion of the students and families to be harmed if MAP grants are not funded. Quinn’s biggest job will be to sell the student aid, rather than the $1-per-pack cigarette tax he wants to fund MAP.

Republican candidates for governor will have the luxury of pointing out that this year’s deficit budget was passed by a Democrat-controlled Legislature and signed by a Democrat governor.

In a year when nobody wants to own the budget, it will be interesting to see how these issues play with voters.

Legislation that calls for Congress to post all non-emergency legislation online for at least 72 hours before it comes up for a vote is hung up in committee and its sponsors are fighting for it to get a fair hearing.

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., are the authors of HR 554, which has been bottled up in a House committee since June. Last week the two men started a drive to collect 218 signatures in order to bring the resolution up for debate in the full House. Both men say they may fail, but want to put all members of Congress on notice that they should be able to read legislation before a vote. And so should the American people.

A Wall Street Journal reporter said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said legislators will have “a period of time that is sufficient” whenever they consider legislation.

She does not want to limit her options in working on legislation and is urging Democrats not to sign on. Yet the bill has more than 30 Democrat sponsors already and several more who have signed on to the measure that would bring the resolution up for floor debate.

Republicans in 1993 called for a waiting period before legislation is passed. Democrats controlled Congress at that time.

But Republicans batted down legislation that would do the same thing during the Bush administration. So this is not a clear question of party affiliation. It is opposed by whoever is holding the reins of power at the time.

With so many people on-line these days. It’s hard to believe something like this will be held back for very long.

Any comments on the need for openness and deliberation?