by Adam Doster on October 10, 2008 - 5:36pm
The big news coming out of the Tribune's editorial board debate last week between 10th District congressional challenger Dan Seals and Rep. Mark Kirk was the GOP incumbent's statement regarding vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- a pick he lauded in early September, but about which he now has concerns.
Buried in the discussion about energy policy, however, was yet another misleading claim from Kirk regarding offshore oil drilling.
by Angela Caputo on October 07, 2008 - 11:15am
Another bit of good news has emerged for Democrat Dan Seals who, as we noted earlier, is riding high after a new Roll Call/Survey USA poll gave him an eight-point lead over 10th District GOP incumbent Mark Kirk.
Based on the new polling, the Swing State Project reports today that it's shifted the race from "Lean Republican" into the "Tossup" category.
by Josh Kalven on October 07, 2008 - 8:42am
A new poll released late yesterday by Roll Call and conducted by Survey USA (FiveThirtyEight's second highest rated pollster) found Democrat Dan Seals leading GOP Rep. Mark Kirk by eight points in the 10th Congressional District, 52-44 percent. From the write-up (subscription required):
SurveyUSA, an automated polling firm, conducted the surveys for Roll Call on Saturday and Sunday (WHAS-TV in Louisville was a partner on the poll in Indiana’s 9th district). Each poll tested more than 600 voters and had an error margin of roughly 4 points (for complete details, see chart at right). [...]
by Josh Kalven on October 06, 2008 - 1:13pm
In an episode that filmed last week and aired yesterday morning, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals appeared separately on NBC 5's City Desk. Host Carol Marin immediately asked Kirk why he refused to directly debate Seals on the program. Kirk first tried to deflect the question, then stated, "Actually it would have been fine with me." Watch it:
But while Kirk suggested it somehow wasn't his decision, the Seals campaign made clear yesterday that they were more than willing to debate the GOP incumbent on NBC 5's airwaves.
by Josh Kalven on October 06, 2008 - 10:07am
After GOP Rep. Mark Kirk last week reported raising $850,000 during the third quarter, Democratic challenger Dan Seals announced some impressive numbers of his own this morning. From a press release:
Today, Democratic Congressional Candidate Dan Seals' campaign reported that it had raised over $700,000 in the 3rd financial quarter, posting their strongest quarterly numbers yet. While Mark Kirk's fundraising stalled—he reported raising less than he had during the 2nd financial quarter—Seals' campaign fundraising continued to build momentum, raising approximately $70,000 more than he had in the previous 3 month period.
On the tails of the Research 2000 poll released yesterday showing a six-point race, the Seals campaign has to be feeling pretty good today.
by Josh Kalven on October 05, 2008 - 4:45pm
On Friday's edition of WTTW's Chicago Tonight, the "Week In Review" panel discussed Illinois' tightest congressional races, specifically the contests in the 10th and 11th districts. While discussing the former, NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern described GOP Rep. Mark Kirk as "doing very well so far in the polls" vis-a-vis Democratic challenger Dan Seals. This left me scratching my head a bit because, over the past two months, we've seen only two polls out of the 10th, both of them internals. A poll commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee found Seals trailing Kirk by only seven in mid-August. Meanwhile, a poll paid for by the Kirk campaign in mid-September found the incumbent with a 22-point lead.
Well, now there's a new poll on the scene, commissioned by the liberal website Daily Kos and conducted by the nonpartisan Research 2000 between September 30 and October 1. It shows Kirk leading Seals by only six points, 44-38 percent.
by Josh Kalven on October 04, 2008 - 3:10pm
Back in June, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk -- along with five other Republican members of Congress from Illinois -- voted against a Democratic bill to extend federal unemployment benefits by 13 weeks. At the time, Kirk explained that he wasn't against the idea of giving laid-off workers additional unemployment checks, but instead was concerned that the legislation would allow those who had been on the job for as little as two weeks to receive benefits for nine months. Kirk even claimed that by allowing folks with such limited work records to enter the unemployment system, the Democrats had doubled the cost of the bill.
As we pointed out at the time, Kirk's excuse made little sense because it completely overlooked the more strict eligibility requirements laid out by individual states.
by Adam Doster on October 01, 2008 - 11:05am
As we noted in the Early Bird, Rep. Mark Kirk is now expressing skepticism about John McCain's running mate. When asked if Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin had the qualifications to become president, the North Shore Republican told the Tribune editorial board
yesterday: "Quite frankly, I don't know." When pressed further,
he told the assembled reporters "I would have picked someone different."
But one month ago, Kirk was signing a different tune.
Talking to the Tribune on September 1, he described himself as "encouraged" by the pick. In an September 2 interview on WLS' Don Wade And Roma In The Morning, Kirk praised the governor for her ethics crusading nature. Listen below:
by Adam Doster on September 29, 2008 - 4:28pm
Last week, a spokesman for the conservative group Freedom's Watch told the Daily Herald that it was "fair to say" the organization would spend "substantial" resources attacking 10th District congressional challenger Dan Seals up until Election Day. Today, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza defined "substantial":
In the past 10 days, Freedom's Watch has dropped more than $1.6 million on ads in six House races and two Senate contests. That spending comes after the group spent less than $40,000 on television ads between May and September, raising questions in many circles about whether the group would be a major factor in the fall election. [...]
Freedom's Watch spending
Colorado Senate: $659,212
Oregon Senate: $366,033
Alabama's 2nd district: $52,374
Illinois' 10th district: $155,298
Nevada's 3rd district: $115,510
New Jersey's 3rd district: $23,690
New Jersey's 7th district: $124,885
New Mexico's 1st district: $155,903
Keeping GOP Rep. Mark Kirk in office appears to be a top-priority of the neo-cons.
by Josh Kalven on September 26, 2008 - 1:26pm
This afternoon, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) released the results of a poll they conducted in mid-August, showing Democratic challenger Dan Seals trailing GOP Rep. Mark Kirk by seven points. This survey provides some contrast to the poll put out by the Kirk campaign last week -- conducted Sept. 10-11, with a 5.6 percent margin-of-error -- showing him with a commanding 22-point lead.
From the DCCC release:
A Global Strategy Group poll conducted August 17-19 of 400 likely voters with a 4.9% margin of error shows Dan Seals within striking distance of Congressman Mark Kirk 39%-46% with 14% undecided. After voters are informed with each candidates’ message and bio, Dan Seals comes out ahead 45%-40%.
