Got Any Gum?

Operatives playing the Joe-Walsh-Little-Lotto are advised to check their stubs. If you picked Congressional District 14, step up to the window and claim your prize.

One of the leading unanswered questions about the 2012 election is where Congressman Joe Walsh will run for re-election. Walsh may not have yet decided publicly where he is running -- but the area's two number-one news outlets have. Lake County's newspaper of record, the Daily Herald ...

Hultgren, Walsh lay groundwork for primary matchup

and the libertarian-public-sector-pensioners at the McHenryCountyBlog ...

Is Walsh's Primary Strategy Viable?

are both calling it for Congressional District 14. That giant sucking sound you hear is the wind being knocked out of the sails of 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren's re-election campaign.

Walsh, atypically tight-lipped, says he is waiting for the courts to decide what the Congressional map will look like. And when it comes to waiting for the courts to decide, Walsh no doubt speaks from experience. But for your LakeCountyEye's money, they are waiting for the numbers his pollster needs to determine whether Walsh should run in District 14 or 10 or 8 or 6 or somewhere else.

The new Congressional District 14 cuts a shermanesque swath of land from north and western Lake County all the way down to Minooka, Kentucky Illinois. Operatives venturing that far south are advised to remember their passports.

Now your LakeCountyEye has, on occasion, blogged about the exploits of Screamin' Joe Walsh and even Welshin' Joe Walsh. But if the Congressman does decide to throw his hat into District 14, look for your LakeCountyEye chewing over the possibility of a Minooka Joe Walsh.