Ending months of speculation, Gov. James Thompson will announce his 1986 political plans on Monday, and his closest advisers predict he will seek a history-making fourth term.
”You`ve seen the signals,” Thompson said when asked about his plans during a breakfast interview last week in the Executive Mansion.
”It would be like running again for the first time,” said Thompson, who acknowledged that the state`s troubled economy and his record tenure as Illinois governor might be formidable obstacles to overcome in a bid for a fourth term. Even so, the governor said he is optimistic about his chances in such a race.
Thompson, 49, who has already served longer than any Illinois chief executive, has scheduled a Monday morning press conference in the State Capitol pressroom to make his announcement. He then will leave Springfield for appearances in half a dozen other Illinois cities, winding up in Chicago in time for the evening newscasts.
”He wouldn`t be going to all the trouble if he weren`t planning to be a candidate,” said U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon (D., Ill.), a friend of Thompson`s.
Said a longtime Thompson associate: ”Every indication is that he will run.”
He has also scheduled a three-day blitz, beginning Tuesday via recreational van, of the suburban collar counties. Thompson also disclosed in the interview that former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee will be making a fundraising appearance for him in Rockford in a few weeks.
Thompson set the stage for a re-election bid earlier this year when he proposed and pushed through the Illinois General Assembly a $200 million education reform package and the $2.3 billion ”Build Illinois” public works and housing initiative designed to spur the state`s economy.
While most political observers are convinced that Thompson will announce his candidacy, the governor has delayed his announcement three times. He had originally planned to make his decision public in April.
The governor said he would probably begin making telephone calls to party leaders this weekend to inform them of his plans–if he is a candidate.
But Thompson would not give a direct answer when asked what he would be telling party leaders. ”My wife thinks I`ll walk into the press conference with two press releases, one to say I`m running and one to say I`m not,” he noted wryly.
In the interview, Thompson hinted that he would be cutting back his foreign travel for economic development in preparation for the 1986 campaign year and the upcoming autumn special session of the General Assembly.
Thompson, who was elected governor in 1976 by the largest margin in the state`s history and re-elected to a third term in 1982 over former Sen. Adlai Stevenson (D., Ill.) by less than a percentage point, has been urged to run for a fourth term by state and national party leaders who regard him as the GOP`s best chance of holding the governorship.
Republican and Democratic polls have indicated that Thompson is strongly competitive against Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan and Stevenson, the leading Democratic prospects for 1986.
”I think he should run and I think he will,” said state Republican Chairman Don Adams of Springfield.
A compelling factor in Thompson`s decision, according to political advisers, is the governor`s ambition to land a spot on the 1988 national Republican ticket. Douglas Bailey, Thompson`s political consultant for more than a decade, only recently made the recommendation that Thompson`s chances for 1988 would be strengthened if he were a sitting governor.
Several months ago, Thompson had suggested that his prospects in the next presidential election might be more promising if he left the governorship and devoted full time to a national campaign. But because the first Republican presidential contests of 1988 will be held in neighboring Iowa and Michigan, Thompson now thinks that he could seek the presidential nomination without having to shirk his gubernatorial responsibilities.
According to friends and associates, Thompson spent months weighing his decision, partly because of several lucrative opportunities in private business. Thompson, who is not wealthy, has expressed doubt whether he could afford to give up another four years in the private sector. And in recent months, Thompson confirmed that he had held preliminary discussions with several Chicago law firms and corporations.
”I think he has decided to make the financial sacrifice and run for another term,” said David Gilbert, a Loop banking executive who was Thompson`s press secretary for 10 years and only recently left state government.
”I`m assuming he`s running for re-election, and I`d be very disappointed if he doesn`t,” said Lt. Gov. George Ryan, who is scheduled to accompany Thompson on the Monday campaign swing. If he is a candidate for re-election, Thompson said, Ryan would be retained as his running mate.
While Thompson would not confirm that he would be a candidate, he did forcefully deny that remarks he made to an Illinois State Fair rally last week were meant as a political farewell address.
In a brief speech on the fair`s Republican Day, Thompson told the GOP faithful that whoever ”the candidate turns out to be, I`ve tried to lay the groundwork.
”The next Republican candidate for governor must be a person not willing to rest on the past but is prepared to look to the future.”
Politicians in both parties have said that Thompson`s announcement could affect their ambitions to run for statewide office.
Half a dozen prominent Republicans–including Ryan, Illinois Secretary of State Jim Edgar, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Illinois House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst, Chicago industrialist William Farley and U.S. Agriculture Secretary John Block–have indicated they would be interested in seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination if Thompson didn`t run.
After his Monday announcement in Springfield, Thompson will make stops in Carbondale, Belleville, Peoria, Quad Cities, Rockford and Midway Airport in Chicago.
