KIRK AHEAD IN ILLINOIS – AT 7:55 P.M. ET:  Republican Congressman Mark Kirk leads the Democratic candidate for the Illinois U.S. Senate once held by Barack Obama, according to the latest from Scott Rasmussen.  From the Washington Examiner:

Rasmussen has released its latest poll on the race to fill Barack Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois:

Kirk now attracts 46% support in Illinois’ race for the U.S. Senate, up from 41% in early April. Support for Giannoulias is at 38%, virtually unchanged from the previous survey but down from March, when he earned 44% of the vote. Five percent (5%) currently support some other candidate, and 12% are undecided…

After months of highly-publicized financial struggling, including reports of loans to convicted felons, Broadway Bank, where Giannoulias worked as a senior official from 2002 to 2006, was seized by bank regulators on April 23 and its assets taken over by another bank. The survey was taken five days later on Wednesday night.

COMMENT:  We're glad Kirk is ahead, but the margin is not comfortable.  Illinois is a Democratic state, there's fooling around on election day in Chicago, and a GOP candidate has to build up quite a head of steam to be elected. Giannoulias has gone through a major scandal surrounding his family's bank.  Kirk is an attractive guy.  I would have imagined that Kirk would be further ahead.

There's talk that Giannoulias will be replaced on the ticket with someone without the current candidate's baggage, someone like Rahm Emanuel.  That will make it even harder for Kirk.  But Kirk is an energetic campaigner, and we remain guardedly optimistic.

May 3, 2010