Roland Burris to Replace Barack Obama as Illinois State Senator

Washington Post Reports that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Appointing Roland Burris as Senator

Roland Burris will be the new Illinois State Senator, as the Washington Post has announced that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will appoint Roland Burris to the position. Roland Burris will take the vacant Senate seat that President-elect Barack Obama vacated when he was elected to the office of President in November, but will come with much controversy as he is being appointed by a state Governor buried deep within his own issues.

The appointment of Roland Burris is a former Illinois Attorney General, after serving in the post from 1991 to 1995. He is a 71 year of Democrat who was born in Centralia, Illinois back on August 3rd of 1937. The 71 year old Illinois resident graduated from Southern Illinois University where he received a B.A. before going on to graduate from the Howard University School of Law. He got in to politics back in 1979, when he was elected to the office of Comptroller of Illinois, and became the first African American to be elected to a statewide office. It was quite an accomplishment, and led the way to further political aspirations.

This isn't the first time that Roland Burris has had his eye on a Senate seat, as he also ran for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1984, but came up short, losing to Paul Simon, who would end up winning the Senate seat for that year. Now Roland W. Burris has the chance to take over a Senate seat that was held by Barack Obama for several years, but one that has also been at the center of controversy ever since rumors started going around that current Illinois State Governor Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell of the position to the highest bidder. Though no charges have been proven against the current Governor, it has not removed the stigma from his office.