Primary Elections
Steve Larson
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
On Groundhog's Day, 2010, voters across Illinois will gather to cast their primary ballots for key Illinois offices.
To earn the Republican gubernatorial candidacy, seven contenders have thrown their names into the ring. Notable among them are Hinsdale-based State Senator Kirk Dillard, Bloomington-based Senator Bill Brady, and media-savvy businessman Andy McKenna, who has gone to such lengths as incorporating Blagojevich-style wigs into his television ads. Jim Ryan, a former attorney-general who lost the 2002 race for governor to Democratic candidate Rod Blagojevich, has also entered his name into the race, among others. Notable Democratic candidates competing for the office of governor include incumbent Pat Quinn and three-term comptroller Dan Hynes.
Vying for the vacated senate seat of President Barack Obama are six Republican contenders: John Arrington, Patrick Hughes, Mark Kirk, Don Lowery, Kathleen Thomas, and Robert Zadek. Five Democratic candidates are attempting to retain the high-profile Illinois office in Democrat hands: Jacob Meister, current Illinois treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, David Hoffman, Cheryle Jackson, and Robert Marshall.
In addition to the major Illinois offices becoming available, 2010 is also an election year for the United States House of Representatives, a year in which the Republican Party will attempt to claim some seats lost to the Democratic Party in the 2008 election. Public sentiment in some parts of the nation, including the Southwest, has been turning back toward the Republican Party. At the same time, the Democratic Party has been busy preparing legislation concerning health care that might arrive just at the right time for many voters, in unsure economic times. The President is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday, January 27, less than one week prior to the Illinois primary election.
To earn the Republican gubernatorial candidacy, seven contenders have thrown their names into the ring. Notable among them are Hinsdale-based State Senator Kirk Dillard, Bloomington-based Senator Bill Brady, and media-savvy businessman Andy McKenna, who has gone to such lengths as incorporating Blagojevich-style wigs into his television ads. Jim Ryan, a former attorney-general who lost the 2002 race for governor to Democratic candidate Rod Blagojevich, has also entered his name into the race, among others. Notable Democratic candidates competing for the office of governor include incumbent Pat Quinn and three-term comptroller Dan Hynes.
Vying for the vacated senate seat of President Barack Obama are six Republican contenders: John Arrington, Patrick Hughes, Mark Kirk, Don Lowery, Kathleen Thomas, and Robert Zadek. Five Democratic candidates are attempting to retain the high-profile Illinois office in Democrat hands: Jacob Meister, current Illinois treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, David Hoffman, Cheryle Jackson, and Robert Marshall.
In addition to the major Illinois offices becoming available, 2010 is also an election year for the United States House of Representatives, a year in which the Republican Party will attempt to claim some seats lost to the Democratic Party in the 2008 election. Public sentiment in some parts of the nation, including the Southwest, has been turning back toward the Republican Party. At the same time, the Democratic Party has been busy preparing legislation concerning health care that might arrive just at the right time for many voters, in unsure economic times. The President is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday, January 27, less than one week prior to the Illinois primary election.