Yes; Obama’s Senate opponent had naked pictures of his own wife. Somehow that was embarrassing and scandalous enough to sink the candidacy of an R.
It cleared the decks for an Obama free shot at a U.S. Senate seat. Since he was then currently a State Senator in Illinois, I would guess a fair number of his voters (alive or dead, since it’s Chicago we are talking about here); either thought he was simply running for re-election to his current seat, or had no idea there was any difference between State Senate and U.S. Senate.
Thank you for clarifying it! FReepers have great memories.