Mark Zalcman Drops Out of Special Election

A Bloomington attorney has decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Aaron Schock’s U.S. House seat – at least not this year.

In a press release Monday, Mark Zalcman announced he was dropping out of the special primary election for the now-vacant 18th District Congressional seat.

Zalcman blasted Governor Bruce Rauner in his statement, questioning why Rauner would give potential candidates only 19 days to gather a little over 1,000 valid petition signatures to get a spot on the ballot.

Zalcman said he would plan on running for the 18th District seat in the next regular election in 2016.

Right now, the only declared candidate for Schock’s seat is State Representative Darin LaHood, the son of former congressman and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.