Paul McKinley, who had been the presumed winner in the Illinois special election to replace Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., has been confirmed as the GOP nominee by the state board of elections. There had been a few outstanding provisional ballots that precluded the runner-up, Republican Eric Wallace, from conceding until Friday.
McKinley faces Democrat Robin Kelly, who has received an “F” from the NRA and has said “I’m all for banning guns, I would be a leader in that”:
Kelly has been remarkably quiet since her primary win, purchased for her by Daily Kos (which raised over $135,000 for Kelly) and Michael Bloomberg (whose SuperPAC spent more than $2M in ad buys attacking her opponents).
Kelly is a career Chicago Machine candidate, someone whose campaign is financed by outside groups but run by people with close ties to Rahm Emanuel. Kelly has the Chicago media on her side.
Bloomberg and Kos would like to see the election center on guns rather than the devastation Democrats have brought to the district. And on that issue the candidates could not be more far apart. Kelly would join with Emanuel and Bloomberg in banning guns while McKinley is pro-2nd Amendment, supports concealed carry, and does not think we need more gun laws.
Meanwhile, Illinois GOP is invisible in the race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr.:
The party is acting as if McKinley did not exist. In reality, the Illinois GOP is acting as if there were no special election. That could only mean they are rooting for the Chicago Machine candidate, Robin Kelly to win. Illinois Republican party leaders are being true to form.
Contribute to McKinley’s campaign here.
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