IL-Sen. 2016 Thread: Duckworth nearly triples Kirk Q2 fundraising

[Landslide Lyndon]

I read somewhere about Quinn running but I can't imagine Illinois Democrats being so masochistic.

[Landslide Lyndon]

How about Kwame Raoul?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Why all ambitious Democrats suddenly decided to clear the field for Duckworth? She is hardly an imposing figure and as mentioned elsewhere her campaign skills are suspect.

[Landslide Lyndon]

My guess is Bustos is holding out until 2020, if Durbin retires (as I think he will).

Speaking of Durbin, the Senate Dems really seem to be throwing him under the bus lately. What did he do to earn their ire?

If you're referring to Reid picking Schumer over Durbin, 538 said it was because Schumer has a closer voting record to Reid's, and also because Schumer is better at fundraising and has a bigger social media presence.

Not just that, but multiple people are encouraging Murray to challenge Durbin for the #2 spot, which seems odd considering he was a loyal soldier for not running against Schumer.

It seems to me that Durbin's milquetoast personality, better suited for an old Senate where Republicans had leaders like Howard Baker and Bob Dole, and his Old White Guy status have more to do with that than anything he did.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Another unflattering story for Kirk.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-mark-kirk-finances-met-20150812-story.html#page=1

“Kirk’s placement of his caregiver — who had no prior campaign experience — onto his campaign staff raises questions about whether Kirk used political donations to pay for personal expenses. Campaign finance records show that Kirk for Senate had paid his caregiver a salary totaling more than $43,000 from August 2013 through the end of 2014.”

“Federal law says campaign funds cannot be used for expenses that would occur regardless of whether the person were running for or holding office.”

[Landslide Lyndon]

Stay classy Republicans.