Chris Kennedy Passes On Illinois Senate Race

By Roll Call Staff

Posted August 18, 2009 at 1:23pm

Illinois Democrat Chris Kennedy, a member of the storied political family, will not be running for the Senate in 2010.

The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday that Kennedy, a businessman who runs Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, told supporters in a letter that he “did not want to have to leave the state in order to serve it.”

Kennedy is a son of the late New York Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Flock cameras controversy set for Senate hearing

A podium is pictured on the House steps of the Capitol on Wednesday before a news conference.

‘Some months, you don’t even have to come to work’ — Congressional Hits and Misses

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during the 2026 National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday.

Pentagon’s latest Iran war cost estimate: $43.6 billion

Reps. Becca Balint and Julie Fedorchak, center, talk during a congressional softball practice, alongside Rep. Hillary Scholten, left. This year’s game will be played at Audi Field on Sept. 23.

In a ‘very hard’ year for women in Congress, at least there’s still softball

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., prepares to film a video with a man in a Tyrannosaurus rex costume to mark to the passage of the National Fossil Act in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Photos of the week | September 12-18, 2026

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., arrives for a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 19.