US Senate Race Illinois 2010 Timeline

2009 Jul 5 Illinois Republican Congressman Mark Kirk raises more than $580,000 in second quarter 2009
Illinois Republican Rep. Mark Steven Kirk raised more than $580,000 in this year's second quarter and has more than $1 million in his campaign account -- funds he could use for a U.S. Sen...
2009 Jul 8 US Rep Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL) will run for US Senate, sources say
Rep. Mark Steven Kirk will run for the Senate next year, a Republican source confirmed Wednesday. Kirk’s willingness to give up his House seat is a sign that the GOP will seriously com...
2009 Jul 10 Alexi Giannoulias announces that he has raised $1.8 million to date for US Senate run
Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias raised $1.8 million to date for his Senate bid, while his likely Democratic rivals have zero dollars in their warchests. Giannoulias has been fund-...
2009 Jul 13 Alexi Giannoulias releases first round of endorsements for US Senate seat
Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias today released an initial list of over 60 elected officials who have pledged to support his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Endorsements for Gi...
2009 Jul 13 Andy McKenna steps back from US Senate seat (Illinois) run and clears path for Mark Kirk to run
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna said today that he will step aside if Rep. Mark Kirk runs for the Senate, clearing the way for Congressman to claim the GOP nomination. ...
2009 Jul 15 Report: Mark Kirk to announce bid for US Senate Seat
North Shore Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk will announce his long-expected foray into the U.S. Senate race Monday, sources familiar with his decision said Wednesday. The move comes aft...
2009 Jul 19 Alexi Giannoulias to formally announce run for US Senate, sources say
A spokesman says that State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will make a formal announcement sometime next week about plans to run for the United States Senate. Giannoulias is not yet an of...
2009 Jul 20 US Rep (R-IL) Mark Kirk announces Senate Run
"We're just a laughingstock in Washington." —Mark Kirk
2009 Jul 26 Mark Kirk meets with visiting Chinese vice premier
Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan Sunday held talks with U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen and Mark Kirk. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation to facilitate the world economy's...
2009 Jul 27 Mark Kirk (IL-R) votes against high speed rail
What's curious, then, is Kirk's vote, along with Congressman Peter Roskam, to try and strip $4 billion in federal funding set aside for a national high-speed rail network from a larger tr...
2009 Jul 31 Illinois Senate president John Cullerton endorses Alexi Giannoulias for US Senate
State Senate President John Cullerton will endorse State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate today. Cullerton becomes the highest-profile elected official to endorse Giannoulia...
2009 Aug 3 Mark Kirk presents alternative plan for health care reform
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk presented Monday a rival plan for national health-care reform in opposition to the Democratic proposals making their way through Congress. Yet, it was unclear whether ...
2009 Aug 5 Fox News' Sean Hannity investigates Alexi Giannoulias
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, we've certainly learned about the ugly side of Chicago politics in the past year. The Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris pay-to-play scandal seemed to repres...
2009 Aug 6 Poll shows Alexi Giannoulias favored to win Democratic nomination for Illinois US Senate Seat in 2010
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer, holds a commanding lead over his two potential primary rivals in the Illinois Senate race, according to a new poll obtained by PO...
2009 Aug 10 Alexi Giannoulias gets endorsements for 2010 Senate bid from four unions
Locals of UNITE-HERE, UFCW, UA and the Illinois Pipe Trades hoped on the bandwagon of Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias today. The release is below. In other news, Giannoulias chief of staff, ...
2009 Aug 10 Cheryle Jackson, Chicago Urban League President, announces run for US Senate in Illinois
"I'm not a politician. That's what my opponent is, a politician. I'm not that. I'm a problem solver." —Cheryle Jackson
2009 Aug 10 SEIU to endorse Alexi Giannoulias for 2010 US Senate bid
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, I've learned, is picking up an early endorsement for his 2010 Democratic Senate bid from the Illinois State Council, Service Employees International Uni...
2009 Aug 19 Pat Hughes announces run for US Senate seat in Illinois
Hinsdale real estate developer Patrick Hughes announced Wednesday that he is entering the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, challenging U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk for the party's banner. Hu...
2009 Aug 21 Cheryle Jackson supports public insurance option for health care reform
Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle Jackson today said that a public insurance option is absolutely critical to achieve the dual goals of containing costs and expanding access to quali...
2009 Aug 24 Mark Kirk holds town hall meeting on health care reform
An Arlington Heights town hall meeting on health-care reform led to impassioned debate Monday afternoon, with overflow crowds chanting, carrying signs and forcing a second meeting. U.S...
2009 Aug 27 Former Assistant US Attorney David Hoffman to run for US Senate seat
David Hoffman (D), a former Assistant U.S. Attorney to Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, has entered the race to succeed Sen. Roland Burris (D) in President ...
2009 Aug 30 Senator John McCain endorses Mark Kirk for Illinois Senate Seat
Republican Congressman Mark Kirk received a big endorsement Sunday in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Former presidential candidate and current Arizona Sen. John McCain was in the Chicago...
2009 Sep 1 U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (IL), IL State Sen. Rev. James Meeks and the Cook County Democratic Women Org. endorse Cheryle Jackson for U.S. Senate seat
U. S. Senate candidate Cheryle Robinson Jackson today received key endorsements from U. S. Representative Bobby Rush, State Senator Rev. James Meeks and the Cook County Democratic Women O...
2009 Sep 2 Immigrant group targets Mark Kirk with TV ads featuring his face on a condom
Mark Kirk's record on immigration reform is not sterling. It's also a topic he'd prefer to avoid. But if the North Shore Republican wants to run for U.S. Senate, the group Illinois Immigr...
2009 Sep 7 Alexi Giannoulias' Family's Bank suffering due to bad loans, reports Chicago Business
The family of state Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias pulled $70 million out of its Broadway Bank in 2007 and 2008, just as Broadway's high-octane growth strategy coll...
2009 Sep 8 Former Chicago lawyer Jacob Meister announces candidacy for 2010 IL Senate seat as Democrat
"You probably don't know my name, but that's a good thing." —Jacob Meister
2009 Sep 10 David Hoffman formally announces launch of US Senate campaign
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman formally kicks off his campaign late morning in Garfield Park. Then he piles into an RV and heads out for a statewide tour. Chicago's former...
2009 Sep 11 Alexi Giannoulias announces support for Gay Marriage, repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Illinois State Treasurer and U.S. Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias surprised voters last week when he announced an extensive LGBT rights platform that included everything from his support...
2009 Sep 11 Alexi Giannoulias heckled for holding a fund raiser on 9/11
He's got a video camera and a mission to make big conservative noise. William J. Kelly - an independent conservative TV producer that produced a show for FOX on WFLD-TV in Chicago and an ...
2009 Sep 11 Alexi Giannoulias receives endorsement of Cook County Democrats
The committeemen earlier endorsed State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in his bid for U.S. Senate. Giannoulias and two of the three other Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate asked for t...
2009 Sep 14 Mark Kirk changes mind on Cap and Trade position at GOP rally in DuPage County Illinois
"I voted for it because it was in the narrow interests of my congressional district. But as your representative, representing the entire state of Illinois, I will vote 'No' on that bill co..." —Mark Kirk
2009 Sep 16 Cheryle Jackson formally launches bid for Illinois Senate seat
Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson is now formally a candidate for U.S. Senate. Jackson Wednesday talked up her work at the Urban League, while downplaying another part of her...
2009 Sep 17 Cheryle Jackson receives endorsement from pro-choice PAC Emily's List for 2010 IL Senate Seat race
Cheryle Robinson Jackson earned the endorsement of a powerful women's political group Thursday, just one day after officially launching her campaign for President Obama's former Senate se...
2009 Sep 20 David Hoffman appears on Public Affairs with Jeff Berkowitz
This evening's "Public Affairs," show is perhaps the most in-depth TV interview to date of U. S. Senate Candidate Hoffman, who previously was an Ass't U. S. Attorney (in Chicago) for seve...
2009 Sep 21 Cheryle Jackson now running as Cheryle Robinson Jackson for US Senate seat in 2010
When Cheryle Jackson formally launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate last week, she kicked it off with a major name change. Cheryle Jackson is now Cheryle Robinson Jackson. Family c...
2009 Sep 21 David Hoffman announces that he supports gay marriage rights
Former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, who recently announced his intention to run in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary in February, is also a proponent of the rights of gays an...
2009 Sep 22 Fox TV Analyzes David Hoffman's Chances to win Illinois Senate seat
2009 Sep 24 David Hoffman blasts Alexi Giannoulias for Endorsement from SEIU
The campaign of rival candidate David Hoffman lit into Giannoulias for the endorsement. In a blog post on the campaign's web site Thursday, Daniel X. O'Neil, Hoffman's new media direct...
2009 Sep 24 Mark Kirk wants Obama Administration to withdraw $400,000 in funding to Libyan charity run by Gadhafi family
The Obama Administration plans to give $400,000 in funding to a Libyan charity run by the Gadhafi family, and U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) wants the grant withdrawn. The money would be...
2009 Sep 24 SEIU formally announces endorsement Alexi Giannoulias for US Senate seat
Illinois' largest union, the Service Employees International Union, will announce Thursday it is backing Democratic front-runner Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate. Giannoulias threw hi...
2009 Sep 25 RNC Chairman Michael Steele withdraws endorsement from Mark Kirk
This past June, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) — who is now running for Senate — was one of the eight Republicans to cast a vote in favor of Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation. But ever since ...
2009 Sep 28 Mark Kirk says Census Bureau should sever ties with SEIU due to links to ACORN
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican Senate candidate, said Monday the Census Bureau should drop any involvement with the Service Employees International Union for the 2010 population count....
2009 Sep 29 David Hoffman promises more public info if elected to US Senate
David Hoffman is promising to give the public more information about his meetings, spending and campaign fundraising if he's elected to the U.S. Senate. The Chicago Democrat said Tuesd...
2009 Sep 29 Former judge Abner Mikva endorses David Hoffman for US Senate in Illinois
Former Chicago inspector general David Hoffman picked up the endorsement of a venerable former judge and unveiled a transparency platform Tuesday in his bid for President Obama’s former S...
2009 Sep 29 US Senate candidate Mark Kirk holds health care town hall meeting in Northbrook, IL
At his health care townhall in Northbrook today, GOP Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk received an off-topic question regarding his support earlier this summer for the House climat...
2009 Oct 1 Mike Ditka backing Pat Hughes over Mark Kirk for Republican Senate nomination in Illinois
Chicago Bears legend Mike Ditka is backing the little-known Patrick Hughes for the Republican Senate nomination in Illinois. In a statement released Thursday by the Hughes campaign, Di...
2009 Oct 5 Illinois Senate candidates announce campaign cash
The news only confirms what we already knew: the fight over President Barack Obama's old Senate seat is going to be an expensive one. Republican Congressman Mark Kirk reports he raised...
2009 Oct 7 Pat Hughes announces $380,000 in receipts for September fundraising
Developer Patrick Hughes (R), who made some headlines last week for securing the endorsement of former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, told The Hill on Wednesday that he will report $380,...
2009 Oct 11 Candidates in Illinois US Senate Race divided on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy
Illinois’ Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate want to overturn the nation’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays serving in the military, but they’re divided on the urgency of making ...
2009 Oct 12 Mark Kirk funded poll shows lead over Alexi Giannoulias for US Senate Seat
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) holds a seven-point lead over Alexi Giannoulias (D) and a wide lead over GOP primary opponents in his Senate campaign, according to automated polling conducted for...