Looking to keep the foul odor coming out of Chicago from seeping into Washington, congressional leaders were getting behind a plan to have Barack Obama’s Senate replacement selected by voters in a special election, rather than appointed by Illinois’ governor.

Lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., announced Tuesday that they would call an emergency session of the state legislature to pass a bill requiring the vacancy created by Obama’s election as president be filled by election. The move would deny embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich a key bargaining chip.