IL-SEN

Who Leads IL-SEN? Depends How Many Candidates Are Involved

Eric Lach | October 29, 2010, 12:27PM

Illinois Senate candidates Alexi Giannoulias (D) and Mark Kirk (R)

The Illinois Senate race has been close for months. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Rep. Mark Kirk have attacked each other viciously over their respective scandals, attempting to gain advantage in a tight contest. So who is ahead? Well, it depends which polls you look at. Because while Giannoulias and Kirk are the headliners, two other candidates, the Green Party's LeAlan Jones and Libertarian Mike Labno, are each pulling in enough support to sway the results of this close race.

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One note: support for third-party candidates often comes up much lower on Election Day itself than compared to the pre-election polls. In many cases, voters who were thinking of casting a protest vote ultimately pick one of the two major-party candidates. However, this effect is very hard to predict.

That said, let's break down the numbers:

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IL-SEN

Giannoulias Admits His Campaign Was Behind Flyer Touting Libertarian

Eric Lach | October 28, 2010, 10:16AM

IL-SEN candidate Alexi Giannoulias (D)

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias admitted yesterday that his campaign had a hand in a mailer sent to conservatives in downstate Illinois touting Libertarian Senate candidate Mike Labno as a "pro-life, pro-gun" alternative to Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee in the race.

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