RACE OF THE DAY — ILLINOIS-02

Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Republican opponent wants to capitalize on speculation the Democrat will run to succeed Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

"Are you going to run or not?" asked House candidate Isaac Hayes (R). "I don't think it's fair to the voters to run again and then not serve out your term."

Hayes cited reports that Jackson met privately with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, another possible candidate for mayor, last Wednesday at an undisclosed location in Washington.

"It's my understanding that he is running for mayor," Hayes said of Jackson, adding the congressman should resign if that's the case.

Daley announced earlier this month that he will not seek a seventh term as mayor in February 2011.

Jackson hasn't declared his intention to run. He told the Chicago Sun-Times that in his conversation with Emanuel, the two agreed "every possible contender should conduct their effort on the moral high ground because our city deserves a very serious debate about its economic future."

Hayes has been in the race for more than a year but faces an uphill battle to unseat the Democratic incumbent. Still, he feels buoyed by the ongoing corruption issues plaguing his rival's party.

"The whole Rod Blagojevich thing has given me an opening," Hayes said in reference to Jackson's entanglement in the former governor's appointment of a successor to President Obama in the Senate. "Now, it shows that he's really not interested in being congressman at all. He went from the Senate to mayor.

"[Voters] need to just go ahead and give Jesse what he wants, let him run for mayor, give him a head start," Hayes told The Ballot Box.

The Republican said he's campaigning on a "character agenda." He was in Washington on Friday for the Values Voter Summit, a gathering of social conservatives.