Illinois Gubernatorial Election 2014.

[IceSpear]

I think if they want the governor's mansion again, they need to recruit Judy Baar Topinka (JBT) who is a moderate Republican who is more like most suburban Chicagoans.

Then us Downstate people could vote her in by a large margin.

She won the GOP nod for Gov in 2006 but lost by 10 points to Blago, after the Trib had already started to expose the corruption in Blago's inner circle. Downstate didn't help JBT as you can see below.

But 2006 was a Dem wave. I think she'd likely have beaten Quinn if she ran in 2010.

[IceSpear]

I find this pretty surprising how Pat Quinn and Tom Corbett have pretty similar approval ratings, and yet Quinn may have a shot for re-election, but Corbett is dead in the water.

I see Kansas and Illinois as sort of equivalent this year. These should be solid D/solid R races, but the deep unpopularity of the incumbent actually has them trailing in the polls. Still, they'll probably both pull through in the end.