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Source: Weller won't run for re-election

Posted September 20, 2007 11:00 pm

Adriana Colindres

U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, a Morris Republican who has come under fire lately because of questions about his ethics, will announce today that he is not seeking re-election.

Weller is expected to serve out the remainder of his present two-year term, which ends in January 2009, said a source who has knowledge of the congressman's plans to leave the House but didn't want to be identified.

Weller is scheduled to speak at a public function in Joliet today. It was not clear Thursday whether his announcement would take place there.

Weller spokesman Andy Fuller said only that the congressman would make his plans known "in the coming weeks." Weller's campaign manager could not be reached for comment.

The 11th Congressional District that Weller represents includes all of LaSalle, Grundy and Kankakee counties, most of Bureau and Will counties, roughly the western half of McLean County and pieces of eastern and southern Woodford County.

Tom Setchell, chairman of the Republican Party in LaSalle County, said Thursday afternoon he didn't know if Weller - whom he called "a skilled congressman" - would run for re-election.

"I don't have any inside information. The congressman has not called me for advice," Setchell said. "If he decides to run, it'll be a spirited race."

Weller's departure would spur a search for a candidate who would represent the western portion of the 11th District, Setchell said.

"We'll work diligently to find a candidate from LaSalle County," he added.

A former state representative, Weller first was elected to Congress in 1994. He emerged from a field of six Republicans and seven Democrats who sought the congressional seat previously held by George Sangmeister, a Mokena Democrat who retired.

Weller, now 50, won re-election in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, also was first elected to Congress in 1994. LaHood earlier declared he would not seek another two-year term in the House next year.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, announced last month that he, too, plans to retire from Congress.

Weller has been the subject of unflattering news reports this month.

The Chicago Tribune on Sept. 7 scrutinized Weller's investment in developing land in Nicaragua, reporting that he did not fully disclose his holdings, as House ethics rules require. The Tribune also reported that Weller "indicated dramatically different purchase prices for the land in American and Nicaraguan records."

About a week later, the Tribune reported that Weller's wife, Zury, had set up a not-for-profit corporation to help children in her native country of Guatemala. Zury Rios de Weller is a member of the Guatemalan congress and the daughter of a former Guatemalan dictator.

Her charity's board of directors includes Weller's mother and brother, a situation that the Tribune said raises questions about whether the congressman legally may claim an exemption from House rules that require members of Congress to disclose a spouse's finances. In claiming the exemption, Weller essentially has said that he has nothing to do with his wife's finances.

This week, Weller and a dozen other members of Congress - including Hastert - were subpoenaed to testify in the trial of a defense contractor accused of bribing a former congressman from California. The Associated Press reported that, acting on advice from House attorneys, none of them would comply with the subpoenas.

Also, a watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released its third annual report Tuesday, naming Weller as one of the "22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress."

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

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