Burris Plans to Make 2010 Election Decision Based on Campaign Money

Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) says “he would like to keep his job in the Senate, but will make a formal decision whether to seek reelection in the next few weeks based on his ability to raise money for a campaign,” The Hill reports.

“I’m moving into a phase now where I will be talking to people and assessing the opportunities in terms of my ability to raise the funds and stay here,” he said.

Democrats have signaled they may not want Burris to come back.

His tenure in the upper chamber has been surrounded by controversy from the moment then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) appointed him to serve out the final two years of President Obama’s term.

Mr. Burris has been so focused on learning the Senate ropes that he has not paid much attention to campaigning.

“I have not sought to be a candidate. I have sought to be a senator,” Burris told The Hill. “I think I can be a very good candidate once I become understanding and be a good senator.”

Burris has been so out-of-the-loop on the campaign side of things that he actually expressed surprise at having to file his first fundraising report last month, as well as his personal financial disclosure.

“Those rules kind of came up on me in terms of having to file a quarterly report,” Burris said. “Nobody told me that.”

His fundraising numbers so far have been bad.  In fact, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said they don’t reflect a serious effort to run in 2010.

Polls out of Illinois suggest he would be an underdog in next year’s Democratic primary and Burris’s own fundraising has been dismal — he raised just $845 in the first quarter of 2009 compared with another Democratic candidate who has raised more than $1 million.

Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told The Hill last month that although his Illinois colleague had not made a decision, his fundraising should tip his hand.

“Certainly if I look at [Burris's] fundraising quarter, I’m not sure it shows an intention to seriously run for the Senate,” Menendez said then.