Candidate for Obama Senate's seat has made over $400,000 in real estate deals

Rep. Luis Gutierrez has made it clear that he is very interested in having his fellow Chicago Democrat, Rod Blagojevich, appoint him to the US Senate seat Barack Obama vacated last month.

My guess is that Gutierrez is a long shot. But appears he has no shot now, thanks to a Chicago Tribune report:

In Chicago, where a decade long building boom has reshaped neighborhoods, politicians have come to rely on real estate interests to donate to their campaigns. But the Democratic congressman's financial relationship with some contributors goes beyond campaign cash, according to records and interviews.

In half a dozen deals with campaign supporters since 2002, Gutierrez has made about $421,000 by investing his money in real estate deals and exiting a short time later.

The congressman says he made a profit in five of those deals but lost a small amount of money on the sixth.

Gutierrez said his real estate investments were appropriate and that he shared the same risk as any other investor.

"I don't believe in the stock market," Gutierrez said. "It always causes conflicts of interest."

And deals like this don't?

Gutierrez says there is no conflict of interest in regards to these deals, telling the Tribune that he doesn't interfere with zoning matters. Fair enough, the only zoning members members of Congress get involved with are inside the District of Columbia. But the Trib reported last October that Gutierrez wrote a letter to Mayor Richard M. Daley requesting support on a real estate deal involving a political donor.

That gets me thinking. (Yes conservatives do that.) Real estate, Chicago, politics...I wonder if Gutierrez has had any dealings with Tony Rezko?

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