Tim Baldermann To Drop has Dropped

Watch for a press release this morning tomorrow today from Tim Baldermann, recently nominated Republican congressional candidate from the 11th District, announcing he is dropping.

Details follow . .

Update, 10:30am: Word is this has to do with money, including promises made not kept.

Update (IR Editor): The National Republican Congressional Committee has confirmed the announcement will be made sometime today or tomorrow.  At that time they will have an official response.

Update, 11:30am: Capitol Fax has linked to a story in Polito.com on this, giving more details:

The Republican nominee for retiring Rep. Jerry Weller’s (R-Ill.) seat will be withdrawing from the hotly-contested Congressional campaign Saturday morning, according to two GOP operatives in Illinois.

“It’s pretty much a done deal,” said one Illinois GOP operative.

New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann, whose campaign was dogged by fundraising woes, never was able to garner much momentum in his campaign to succeed Weller in the GOP-leaning exurban Chicago district.

Leading Republicans in House leadership gave money to Baldermann’s campaign, but he never was able to garner much financial support from individual contributors.

Baldermann told his local newspaper last month that he had “done very little fundraising,” raising concerns among the party establishment.

"I have done very little fundraising. It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to (Weller). I told them, 'If you think I'm going to call somebody who's never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that's insane.' I fight with them every single day over it,” Baldermann told the Southtown Star newspaper in January.

Update, 1p: Phil Kadner of the Southtown Star is reporting Baldemann has dropped [HT: CapFax].

Tim Baldermann has announced he is withdrawing from the 11th Congressional District race.

Baldermann, who won the Republican Party primary earlier this month over two opponents with more than 60 percent of the votes, said he decided to withdraw in order to fulfill his duties as New Lenox mayor, Chicago Ridge police chief and a father of five.

The 11th District - to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller - is considered one of the most important races in the November election by both Republicans and Democrats....

Baldermann, 41, said that until the primary was finished, he was unaware of how time consuming his campaign would be.