After the news came out Blagojevich was attempting to “sell” Obama’s seat there was bipartisan support for holding a special election, rather than let Blagojevich choose who would become the state’s junior senator. That's not the case anymore.
Some state Republicans, like Illinois GOP spokesman Lance Trover, are blaming “national” Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) for intervening. He believes Democrats don't think the "climate" in Illinois is favorable to their party in the wake of the Blagojevich scandals and they don't want to risk relinquishing the seat to a Republican in a special election, even if that means the corrupt Governor makes the appointment.
"Basically, in 24 hours we went from all the Democrats wanting a special election to all of the Democrats not wanting a special election," Trover told conservative media outlets in a morning conference call. "It's Chicago politics at work, they are doing it and it's in front of everybody."
Update:The IL GOP recently released this ad to drum up support for a special election