By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – Former Illinois Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan officially withdrew his name from the running Thursday. Now, the state Republican Party says it will select its new candidate on Tuesday.
Ryan unofficially dropped out of the Senate race a month ago, but didn't file official paperwork until Wednesday.
While officials are not giving names, the Illinois GOP says it has at least six prospective candidates waiting in the wings.
Spokesman Jason Gerwig says they'll make their case before the party central committee on Tuesday.
"You know, we've been ready to move on this for a while now," Gerwig said "Unfortunately, there wasn't a vacancy. Now that we have the vacancy, we're meeting on Tuesday, and we're ready to find a candidate and take this campaign to Barack Obama."
The next Republican candidate will face state senator Barack Obama, whose recent address at the Democratic National Convention has helped him gain national attention.