IL-10: Get Ready for A Dogfight
by brownsox
Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 04:15:17 PM PDT
This is going to be a bloody, nasty, wildly expensive race, and every single dollar is going to count.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and business consultant Dan Seals (D) are gearing up for the most expensive House race in the Chicago area this cycle — and it may turn into the most expensive race in the country that doesn’t involve a self-funder.
Even before the DCCC and NRCC get involved here, the fundraising numbers are already through the roof. Seals raised $635,000 last quarter and has over $1.1 million on hand. Kirk, for his part, pulled in over $900K, and has $2.85 million on hand right now.
Both candidates have more money at this point than they did in their 2006 match, when Kirk bested Seals 53 percent to 47 percent. The Congressman spent more than $3.5 million in the previous cycle, compared with almost $1.9 million for Seals. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chipped in a mere $158,000, while the National Republican Congressional Committee sat the race out.
That election was overshadowed by very competitive and extremely expensive races in the neighboring 6th and 8th districts. But this year, the Kirk-Seals matchup will be the main event.
Rest assured that the NRCC will not be sitting this race out, and that the DCCC should be chipping in quite a bit more money.
Kirk's narrow victory in 2006, coupled with his fundraising prowess, make him a genuinely formidable opponent for Seals. Make no mistake, even in Illinois, we can't rely on "Obama coattails" to take this seat, although they will certainly help.
Dan Seals is an excellent progressive candidate, and he's got a real shot of winning. But it's going to take all the effort we can muster to help make that happen.
On the web:
- ::
