2010 elections

The Tea Party Dog That Didn't Bite?

Christina Bellantoni | February 2, 2010, 8:35AM

IL-SEN candidates Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Patrick Hughes (R), and Judge Don Lowery (R)

Are Republicans really in danger of being selectively picked off by tea party candidates?

Moderate GOP candidates across the country are closely watching today's Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where a centrist Rep. Mark Kirk is poised to beat out two conservatives who have the backing of the tea party movement.

And if Kirk pulls it out tonight as he's expected to, a sigh of relief will be heard from Lynchburg, Va. to Seattle.

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IL-SEN

Mark Kirk Shakes RINO Label To Score 33-Point Lead On GOP Challengers For Obama's Old Senate Seat

Christina Bellantoni | January 27, 2010, 9:09AM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and IL-SEN candidate Patrick Hughes (R)

Democrats tried their hardest to paint Rep. Mark Kirk as cozying up with conservatives to win his Senate primary bid and tea partiers made him public enemy No. 1, but he appears poised to capture the Republican nomination next Tuesday.

Kirk (R-IL) holds a wide advantage leading up to the primary, with a 33-point advantage over his nearest challenger Patrick Hughes.

As we reported, the Tea Party Nation said Kirk had a "consistently liberal" record and was their "next battle" after Republican Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts last week. The group asked tea partiers to help Hughes, and sent a followup email lauding Don Lowery, a circuit court judge also seeking the nomination. The group said any help for these conservative candidates over Kirk will help them "turn back the tide of liberalism and RINOs in our midst."

Despite these efforts, Kirk still has what seems to be a commanding lead in the primary. Our TPMPolltracker average has Kirk with 44.5 percent of the vote, compared with Hughes at 4.5 percent and the others trailing farther behind.

"This race is a battle for the soul of the Republican party," Hughes said in October, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

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IL-SEN

Tea Party Uses (Republican) Scott Brown's Victory To Target (Republican) Mark Kirk

Christina Bellantoni | January 20, 2010, 5:35PM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Tea Party Nation members spent less than an hour celebrating Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts before they got to work to end another Republican's Senate candidacy.

Organizers of the Tea Party Nation, which has banned "liberal trolls" from its Web site in advance of next month's convention in Nashville, last night told members the "next battle" is in Illinois to make sure Rep. Mark Kirk does not win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

The primary is Feb. 2 and the Tea Party Nation warns that if Kirk (R-IL) wins, "this fall Illinois will have a choice between two liberals for the Illinois Senate seat." They call Kirk a "RINO," which stands for Republican In Name Only, with a "consistently liberal" record compared to Pat Hughes, who they called a "solid Conservative."

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IL-SEN

Conservative Insurgent Candidate In Illinois Could Get Support From DeMint Group

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2009, 11:30AM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and IL-SEN Republican candidate Patrick Hughes

Could Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) leadership PAC, the Senate Conservatives Fund, be on the verge of getting involved in the Illinois Senate race, and opposing establishment favorite Rep. Mark Kirk?

DeMint's group held an online poll this past week, asking supporters to choose between Kirk, attorney and conservative activist Patrick Hughes, and "Other." As it turns out, Kirk came in third, even trailing "Other": Hughes 644 votes (73.9%), "Other" 132 votes (15.1%), Kirk 71 votes (8.1%), with "Undecided" and "No Response" totaling 24 votes (2.7%).

Hughes has met with DeMint twice, and is working to mobilize conservatives against the frontrunner. DeMint has taken the sides of more conservative candidates over the establishment in recent months, including Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 special election, Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate race, and Chuck DeVore in the California Senate race.

Kirk has worked hard to move to the right -- such as when he changed his position on the climate change bill, right in the middle of a speech to a local Republican crowd.