Tuesday’s primary produced a general election match-up between Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and GOP Rep. Mark Kirk.
Giannoulias, who was the first to announce his candidacy and was the frontrunner for the nomination, ended up with a closer than expected primary against former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson and two other candidates. Giannoulias took 39 percent to 34 percent for Hoffman and 20 percent for Jackson.
In truth, Giannoulias is the nominee Republicans were hoping for. They believe that his family’s banking business, where he once worked, and his relationship with disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich make him vulnerable. As soon as Giannoulias was declared the nominee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted a web video which said that Giannoulias “would make Tony Soprano proud.”
Kirk won the GOP nomination with 60 percent in a six-way field, handing Republicans the strongest general election candidate they could hope for. They were also somewhat encouraged that the Tea Party movement could not propel their preferred candidate, developer Patrick Hughes, to more than 20 percent
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.