Updated story
After weeks of speculation and rumors, the race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress narrowed Monday.
On the final day candidates are able to formally file their petitions to run in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District, 22 had done so -- five of them in a Republican primary, as of 2 p.m. Monday.
Among those who formally filed are former state Rep. Robin Kelly, who announced that she's already raised more than $200,000 in the race to represent the district, which covers most of Chicago's South Side and area suburbs, according to NBC Chicago.
(Read below for an updated list of hopeful Jackson Jr. successors.)
Other notable candidates who filed early Monday include state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale and former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds. Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who challenged Jackson in the Democratic primary last March, filed her petitions later Monday, as did former U.S. Senate candidate Joyce Washington.
A once-frontrunner in the race, state Sen. Donne Trotter, did not file petitions Monday. Trotter announced his exit from the race late last month after his arrest for attempting to take a gun on a plane at O'Hare International Airport cast a long shadow over his campaign. State Rep. David Miller, another name being floated previously as a possible Jackson successor, announced Monday that he would not be entering the crowded congressional race.
The special election to replace Jackson will be held on March 19 on the heels of a primary on Feb. 26.
Jackson resigned last fall from Congress on the heels of an easy re-election despite not campaigning amid his being on medical leave since June. The congressman had sought treatment for bipolar disorder and is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation into his campaign spending.
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