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the special election would have to be conducted on the next regularly scheduled election day in the district in question. That would be the Feb. 5 primary. The person chosen in the primary would then hold the seat until the term is up. He or she is free to run to keep the seat in the general election.
Hastert's timing has raised a question in my mind. When the first rattlings about his retirement came out a month or so ago, a Republican friend (and holder of 2 poly sci degrees) said that if Hastert retired before the primary, the GOP ran a higher chance of at least temporarily losing the seat. This theory was based on Barack Obama and Hilliary Clinton. He thought that if there is still a hot Dem primary battle going on, particularly one with an Illinois tie, the Dem voters will come out in droves. They would presumably also vote Democratic in the special election in the 14th, too. He said that if the party wanted to try to hold the seat, they needed Hastert to wait to step down.
If this is true, it suggests some interesting possibilities:
1. Hastert no longer cares about the party, and just gave them the finger.
2. The GOP has determined that it cannot hold the seat no matter what, so why bother.
3. Hastert has an emergency in his personal life and needs to leave immediately.
4. The GOP thinks the Dem primary will already be decided before Feb. 5, and more specifically, that Obama will be out.
Just some conspiracy theories...
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