February's Democratic primary race is shaping up to be a familiar one.
State Rep. David Miller, a Lynwood Democrat who is ending his fourth term representing the state's 29th District in the General Assembly, once again will face South Holland Democrat Robert Shaw for the party's nomination.
Shaw officially threw his hat into the ring Monday, the final day of filing for the 2008 primary, which the General Assembly moved up by six weeks in an attempt to give Illinois voters a bigger role in picking the nation's next president.
The Miller-Shaw race will be a rematch of the March 2006 contest, when Miller garnered 71 percent of the 14,027 ballots cast. Miller then sailed to more than 86 percent of the vote in a general election win against Chicago Republican Raymond Tibbs.
Miller is eager to get started on the race for the nomination and feels he has distinguished himself as a state representative.
"As someone who has represented the Southland, folks have been pleased with the representation we have been able to give them," Miller said. "Folks tired of the same old thing, and at the end of the day, all I can say is what I have tried to accomplish over the past seven years is to move the discussion forward. I think we've moved the region forward."
Shaw, the former 3rd District Cook County Board of Tax Appeals commissioner, did not return several calls to a number listed for his South Holland home.
Messages left at Dolton Village Hall, where Shaw works as an inspector general alongside his twin brother and Village President William "Bill" Shaw, were not returned.
With four months before the primary, Miller has a sizable lead in campaign money. According to the latest campaign finance report, filed July 21, Miller's Citizens for David E. Miller committee had about $62,711. Shaw's campaign had about $6,700 in the latest campaign finance report filed Aug. 2.
There certainly is history between Miller and the Shaw brothers.
First elected in 2000, thanks to the support of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, Miller unseated incumbent Rep. Will Harris, D-Dolton, who was heavily backed by both William and Robert Shaw.
The same could be said for Miller's opponent in the 2002 and 2004 primary, Cheryl Tillman, of Calumet City.
A Jackson-backed candidate then unseated Robert Shaw from his position on the county board of tax appeals, which led to an unsuccessful 2005 campaign to unseat South Holland Village President Don De Graff.
In May, Jackson and Miller opposed Dolton as the site of a casino called for in state legislation.
