Chicagoland dairy magnate and investment manager Jim Oberweis filed paperwork yesterday paving the way for a possible bid to replace former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in Illinois' 14th Congressional District. Eric Krol of the Daily Herald has the details.

Oberweis has been running more or less a perpetual campaign for public office for the last six years. He was unsuccessful in two bids for the Republican nomination for the US Senate (finishing 2nd in 2002 and 2004) and one bid for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor (finishing 2nd to Judy Baar Topinka in 2006).

Everyone is waiting to see what Hastert does. He has three options: 1) retire immediately, triggering a special election, 2) retire, but serve out the rest of his term, leaving an open seat, or 3) stay on through next year's primary and then bow out, allowing Republican leaders to hand pick a candidate to stand in his place for the general in November.

UPDATE: I should add, for posterity, that the options I outlined above only apply if Hastert decides he wants to leave Congress, which is what some have been speculating. Obviously, Hastert has a fourth option, which is to stand for reelection and be a heavy favorite to return to Congress. He hasn't said either way, and his spokesperson recently said Hastert will announce his intentions in August.