SEN. SEVERNS CONSIDERS RUN FOR ILLINOIS STATE SECRETARY

CHICAGO -- Declaring that Chicagoans must not dominate next year's slate of Democratic candidates, state Sen. Penny Severns said Friday that she may make a downstate-oriented bid for the secretary of state's office.

"It's important that we have the ticket balanced in all kinds of ways -- including geography," said the Decatur Democrat, who ran for lieutenant governor in 1994.

Severns said she would make her decision sometime in the coming month.

Her remarks came in a telephone interview after Cook County Commissioner John Daley, brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, said he would not run and endorsed the county recorder of deeds, Jesse White, for the powerful post.

Republican George Ryan, the current secretary of state, declared himself a candidate for governor after GOP Gov. Jim Edgar announced his retirement.

Many Democrats had been eyeing the secretary of state's office, which has been a springboard for both Edgar and Ryan. The highly visible office controls 6,000 jobs and numerous lucrative contracts.

Reluctant to clash with a powerful Cook County rival who has one brother in the mayor's office and another in the Clinton Cabinet, those Democrats have been waiting for John Daley to make his move before making their own.

"I've made this endorsement only because of my close relationship with Jesse White," Daley said in a telephone interview. "It's a personal decision." Other Democrats, noting that the Daleys usually coordinate their political activities, said White now appears to be City Hall's candidate.

While many of those mentioned as possible candidates were expected to bow out now, Daley said the nomination might not be White's for the asking. He said a primary fight over the coveted nomination was still likely.

Severns said that, even though she already has endorsed Glenn Poshard, a Southern Illinois congressman, for governor, the party still needs more downstate balance.

She noted that a number of key legislative district battles "will decide whether Speaker (Michael) Madigan retains control of the Illinois House."

"The bulk of those races will be determined in the downstate races," she said. "Therefore, not only from an ethnic and gender point of view but from a geographical point of view, we need to have a balanced ticket."