OK...you convinced me.....is there NO one better??
Robert Zadek is an obscure figure with no funds, and appears to be running a single issue "flax tax" campaign for U.S. Senate
IllinoisReview listed four credible conservatives who could stop Mark Kirk: Pat O'Malley, Chris Lauzen, Eric Wallace , and John Shimkus.
Of those four, Shimkus would be the strongest candidate and is a very popular downstate Congressman who holds Durbin's old seat in the House. Unfortunately he's also the least likely to run. I've been asking the guy to get off his butt for six years and run for statewide office. He apparently wants to stay a Congressman forever and has no interest giving up his seat to try something else.
Chris Lauzen carries the water for the conservative grassrots in the State Senate and he's had an interest in higher office for a long time. He ran for Congress in 2006 but was stopped in the primary by zillionaire Jim Oberweis (who went on to lose to the RAT). He will probably try for high office again in 2010, but I don't think he'll run for Senator or Governor.
Pat O'Malley is a former State Senator who represented me in the Illinois Senate. He was the conservative choice in the 2002 gubernatoral primary, and lost to establishment GOP candidate Jim Ryan (though he did get more votes than the RINO Lt. Governor, Corinne Wood). He's in private law practive now and has kept out of the spotlight for a wihle.
Eric Wallace is a black conservative activist who is Co-Chairman of the Cook County Republican Party. He is CEO of Wallace Multimedia Group, a popular Christian print media company in Illinois, and holds a Ph.D. as well an a M.A. and TH.M. He previously challenged incumbant RAT Maggie Crotty for State Senate, and lost because the black vote went to the white RAT even though it's a majority black district. He's the polar opposite of Kirk and is a strong social conservative.
http://wallacemultimediagroup.com/
http://rebuildtheparty.ning.com/profile/EricMWallace
Of the four, Wallace has indicated a willingness to run for run in the GOP U.S. Senate primary as the conservative choice if Kirk hops into the race. The rest have not said what their plans are for 2010 (though you can assume Shimkus is going to run for re-election to the House unless something unusual happens)