DECATUR - Although Tim Baldermann hasn't filed the paperwork yet to end his congressional candidacy, Decatur native Harry Bond is moving ahead with his own effort to win the Republican nod to run for Congress in Illinois' 11th District.

Last week GOP officials said they will wait until April 30 to decide who will challenge for the right to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, a Morris Republican, in Washington D.C.

The party is searching for a new candidate for the Nov. 4 general election after the surprising departure of New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann, who won a three-way Republican primary race on Feb. 5, only to announce he was dropping out of the race soon after.

But Baldermann has not filed the required paperwork with the Illinois State Board of Elections to formally withdraw as the Republican candidate.

Reached on Friday, Baldermann said: "It's not that easy to withdraw. There are some things involving funding with the Federal Elections Commission that I have to do first. They involve closing out the campaign."

Those items will be dealt with prior to April 30, allowing him to formally withdraw, Baldermann said. He said there should not be a problem with the GOP filling the vacancy by early May.

Although Republican officials remain tight-lipped about whom they'd like to see in the race, two front-runners have emerged: Bond, president of the Bradley-based Monical's Pizza chain, and Martin Ozinga III, president of Ozinga Bros., a material supply company headquartered in Mokena.

Bond and Ozinga fit a profile for which Republicans are searching, because they both could use some of their own wealth in going up against state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson of Crete, who has strong backing from the national Democratic Party.

Green Party candidate Jason Wallace of Normal also is on the ballot.

Will County Republican Party Chairman Dick Kavanagh said that party officials have spent recent weeks interviewing potential candidates. He declined to name who he is favoring.

Kavanagh said he doesn't see any harm in waiting until late April to name a replacement. Under party rules, county chairmen from each of the eight counties that comprise the district will cast weighted votes to choose the new candidate.

"I certainly don't think it's too late," Kavanagh said.

The 11th District, which stretches from Chicago's south suburbs to Bloomington-Normal, is among three districts in Illinois that Republicans are defending in the 2008 election. The others are the 18th District and the 14th District.

Kurt Erickson contributed to this report.