Whenever a new governor is about to be sworn in, one of the most popular Springfield parlor games is figuring out who is on their way out and who is on their way in.
Of course, when a new governor is sworn in from a different party, the "who is out" part is relatively easy - pretty much everybody without civil-service job protection is out. Governor-elect Bruce Rauner is a Republican who just defeated Democratic Governor Pat Quinn, so almost all of Quinn's people are surely gone.
But who will Rauner bring in to run the government? I cannot tell you how many times I'm asked that question every day.
Much of the recent local speculation has focused on Republican state legislators, partly because most of the people closest to the outsider Rauner are unknown to the Springfield crowd. Legislators, on the other hand, are very well known. Some of those legislators are not-so-subtly floating their own names; some are just naturally assumed to be on a short list.
As a result, there are so many rumors going around about so many legislators being "sure thing" appointments that I long ago lost track of the count. It seems at times that the number could be half of the Republican caucus.
Some folks were actively spreading rumors for weeks that Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno was in line for an agency directorship, possibly to undercut her re-election bid as party leader. But nothing could have been further from the truth. She never wanted to move into the executive branch, and as far as I know nothing was ever offered.
Earlier this month, a potential 2016 House Republican candidate loaned his campaign fund $250,000 because he apparently wanted to set himself up for a campaign in the wake of rampant rumors that Representative Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) would soon be heading up a state agency.
Rumors are also rampant that Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) is in line to run the Illinois Department of Insurance. Syverson added fuel to the fire by indicating his willingness to vote to raise the income tax again after it automatically rolls back from 5 percent to 3.75 percent at the end of this year.
Heck, I've even heard that two Downstate GOP legislators are actually fighting bitterly over who ought to be the next director of a major state agency.
Last week, Rauner was finally asked by a reporter how many Republican lawmakers he'd spoken with about joining his administration.
"None," Rauner replied.
While everybody and his brother are out there touting themselves or their pals as the next director of an agency or chair of some state commission, absolutely nobody is a sure thing, and Rauner hasn't yet offered anybody anything.
"Everybody who voted for Bruce thinks they ought to be a director," cracked one insider last week.
Keep in mind that Rod Blagojevich didn't unveil his new agency directors until a few days after he was sworn into office in 2003. I think it was late December before we first got word about whom George Ryan was appointing.
Rauner could move faster than that, and he did act very quickly to put a budget team in place, headed by highly respected Senate Republican Chief of Staff Tim Nuding. Blagojevich didn't announce his budget team until almost a month after the 2002 election.
Once the lists are pared down (and, as of last week, that process had barely begun), potential nominees will then have to be thoroughly vetted. The one thing Team Rauner doesn't want is an unpleasant surprise during the confirmation process.
The Republicans have been out of power for a dozen years, so it's understandable that they're hungry to get back into the game. And they're human beings, so like most other humans, they'd like a promotion for themselves or their friends.
But they should probably keep in mind that Rauner said until he was blue in the face during the campaign that his top priority was to "shake up Springfield" and bring in new blood. Appointing a bunch of Republican legislators to key administration posts wouldn't exactly reinforce that message.
Everybody just needs to calm down.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily political newsletter) and CapitolFax.com.
