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To this day, Barack Hussein Obama remains a man of mystery. Copious amounts of documentation from his early life and academic career have never been released. It took years of pressure, plus Donald Trump as the ringmaster of a media circus, just to see his birth certificate. When the L.A. Times obtained a potentially embarrassing videotape of Obama laughing it up at a party for Arafat minion Rashid Khalidi, the paper pursed its lips and fastidiously hid the tape from public view. Their newspaper account of the part didn’t even mention that domestic terrorist Friends of Obama Bill Ayers and...

Illinois' leading women's rights group reversed field Monday and criticized Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Blair Hull for comments following the release of his stormy divorce records late last week. The Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women also called on Hull to provide a "clear, emphatic statement" on the issue of domestic violence before the March 16 primary. But the group's late-coming criticism of Hull raised two issues of its own. Hull already filled out an extensive questionnaire for the group's state chapter last summer that included four questions on domestic violence. And, Jennifer Koehler, Chicago NOW's president who...

Wealthy hopefuls lead Senate race February 22, 2004 BY ANDREW HERRMANN AND SCOTT FORNEK Staff Reporters Multimillionaire candidates Blair Hull and Jack Ryan lead in their U.S. Senate primaries -- but voters don't buy opponents' complaints that they are buying the election, a new poll shows. The survey of 1,500 Illinois voters finds that three out of four respondents said either that they are more likely to vote for a person who spends millions of his own money to win office or that a candidate's wealth doesn't matter either way. The primary is March 16. Hull -- a trader who...

CHICAGO -- In striking contrast to a poll released yesterday by WGN/Chicago Tribune, an exclusive poll was released today by Survey USA/WBBM-TV in Chicago that says the Democratic primary is a four-way tie and the Republican primary has a leader, Jack Ryan, who is twelve points ahead of the second place candidate, Jim Oberweis. On the Democrat side, State Comptroller Dan Hynes (at 20%) is neck-in-neck with State Senator Barak Obama (at 19%) , businessman Blair Hull (at 19%) and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas (at 18%). Gery Chico came in fifth at 9% and the undecided voters were at...

CHICAGO -- According to a WGN/Chicago Tribune poll on the United States Senate race to replace retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald released tonight, Jim Oberweis of Aurora has jumped ahead of Jack Ryan to take the lead on the GOP side of the ledger with 16% support from those surveyed. On the Democrat side there is a three-way tie between State Senator Barak Obama (D-Chicago), Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and State Comptroller Dan Hynes. The poll, taken last week, shows the majority of Republican voters as being undecided -- 57%. After Oberweis, investor turned teacher Jack Ryan is at 12%,...

<p>WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A powerful state government employees union has endorsed Democrat Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama's bid to become a U.S. senator.</p> <p>The union, Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, represents nearly 100,000 state and municipal workers throughout Illinois. The AFSCME local threw its support to Obama just days after the Illinois AFL-CIO endorsed state Comptroller Dan Hynes in the March 16 Democratic primary.</p>

He's broken out of the pack. In his bid for the Senate seat that is being vacated by Republican Peter G. Fitzgerald, educator and investment banker Jack Ryan has established himself as the undisputed front-runner for the GOP nomination. Ryan is ahead of the crowded GOP field in polls sponsored by news organizations, led his primary rivals in a DuPage Republican straw poll, and is first among senatorial hopefuls in his own state telephone poll of likely Republican voters, which showed that he is the first or second choice of 42 percent of likely GOP primary voters. The poll of...

He's the $40 million man. That's how much Democrat Blair Hull intends to spend in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat that is being vacated by one-term Republican Peter G. Fitzergald. The affable Hull, 60, a commodities millionaire and former blackjack king, is waging the most expensive campaign in Illinois history. Even though his candidacy has yet to break out of single digits, there is a growing perception among Democratic officeholders that Hull has a good chance to win their party's nomination. He is leaving town today on a bus trip to Canada with 25 senior citizens to purchase...

Just seven weeks after he came from nowhere and declared, "I am in--no doubt," Downstate millionaire John Simmons again upended the U.S. Senate race Wednesday, folding his Democratic campaign and throwing his support to state Comptroller Dan Hynes. "Dan's the man," Simmons said. "He'll do great for us." The trial lawyer said he is pulling the plug to devote his energy to reopening a steel mill and to try to prevent a Democratic donnybrook from hurting the party's chances in 2004. "The Democrats do not need a bloodbath in March," Simmons said. "It's not going to help us win in...

June 26, 2003 — Another multi-millionaire joined the race for the United States senate in Illinois Thursday. Republican Andy McKenna launched his campaign one day after millionaire democratic businessman Blair Hull announced his candidacy. So many candidates, with so little name recognition, but so much money to buy it. And as this new group of mega-millionaires compete to replace another rich guy, Senator Peter Fitzgerald, they bring to the political table interesting symbols of their wealth, their priorities, and their roots. The symbol of Andy McKenna's senate race is a rubber-coated horseshoe. It was invented by his great-grandfather at the...

PEORIA - The latest multi-millionaire to turn neophyte politician came to Peoria on Monday to tout himself as a candidate for the common people. Blair Hull, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by fellow multi-millionaire Peter Fitzgerald, stressed his roots: Fuller Brush salesman, high school math teacher, former card-carrying union member. "I have life experience," Hull said during an appearance at Carver Community Center in South Peoria. The Chicago businessman, who sold his stake in 1999 in the trading company he founded for almost $340 million, would hold an elected office for the...

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Lane Evans announced his endorsement Tuesday of state Sen. Barack Obama, D-Chicago, in his bid for Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat in 2004. . Evans, D-Ill., said he met with many of the candidates and chose to endorse Obama, who is serving his second term in the Illinois Senate. “He stands up for the average citizens and make sure that their voice is heard,” Evans said. “He is an advocate for working families and works for their future.” Evans, of Rock Island, who is in his 11th term, said Obama could win the seat that will be...

Millionaire Senate candidate M. Blair Hull took to the airwaves Monday, running television and radio commercials introducing himself to voters--nearly nine months before the Democratic primary. The initial round of 60-second biographical ads will only appear in Downstate areas, but Chicagoans shouldn't feel left out. This early media buy is only a small slice of the $40 million Hull has pledged to spend on the race. He will soon be as easy to find on the TV dial as Emeril Lagasse. "You will hear from us consistently," said Mike Henry, Hull's campaign manager. Hull, 60, is believed to be launching...

Dealing a potential blow to Downstate Democrat John Simmons, former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Glenn Poshard said Tuesday he's leaning toward supporting rival U.S. Senate candidate Dan Hynes. "As far as endorsing anyone officially, I will wait until the candidates all declare, but certainly I would have to say that I'd be leaning toward Dan, if he officially decides to run," said Poshard, a former congressman from southern Illinois. "Dan has been a friend of mine for years and has been helpful to me, and I like what he has done as state comptroller." Simmons still has a shot at winning...

A millionaire Downstate lawyer jumped into the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Thursday--a move that could dramatically reshape the contest and make it the most expensive in the nation. "I am in--no doubt," said John Simmons, a personal injury lawyer and first-time candidate. "I am planning to put a lot of money in it. . . . And I'm going to have a blast doing it." Simmons, 35, lives in Edwardsville, near St. Louis. As the only Downstate Democrat, he could grab much of the Downstate vote, while the six Chicago candidates split the metropolitan area vote. Insiders believe the...

Little can be said for sure about the race for retiring Illinois Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's seat, one of only two open Senate contests in the country in 2004. No one has taken a clear lead. No one knows how the budget battle in Springfield will play out. And, as is the case elsewhere, no one can forecast how the war on terror or the economy will play out, either. But one thing appears clear -- the next junior senator from Illinois will be either an entrenched politician or a captain of industry. In both camps, the best funded, most...

As a gaggle of Illinois Republicans eye the temptingly open U.S. Senate race now that former Gov. Jim Edgar has declined to run, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is determined to keep tabs on them with the help of an outpost just opened in Chicago. Until someone comes up with a snappier name, the overt operation is called the "Illinois Project'' and is renting space in the Illinois AFL-CIO office on Wacker Drive. Democratic campaign committee political director Paul Tewes spent a few days in Chicago in early April--before Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) decided not to seek another term in...

Before Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) announced last month that he won't seek a second term next year, Democratic hopes of winning the seat were muted by political reality. True, Fitzgerald was regarded as a budget hawk and an iconoclast on the outs with state Republicans. Also, national Democrats were saying they were determined to win Illinois, along with Alaska, in 2004. But the undeniable fact was that Fitzgerald was an incumbent and the White House and the National Republican Senatorial Committee were determined to do everything possible to keep Fitzgerald's seat and hold on to their slim margin in the...

SPRINGFIELD -- A new statewide poll shows that U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald may be vulnerable if he seeks re-election to a second term. According to a survey of 462 state residents by Illinois Wesleyan University's political science department, just 27 percent of the respondents believe the Republican from Inverness should be re-elected in 2004. The poll, which had a margin of error of 4.7 percent, showed that 38 percent of those surveyed on Tuesday and Wednesday believe someone else should be given a chance to do the job. Thirty-four percent were undecided. The poll comes as Fitzgerald has been in...

WASHINGTON--Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who in 1998 became the state's youngest elected constitutional officer in decades, said Wednesday he is preparing to enter the Democratic field trying to unseat Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Hynes, 34, said he would file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish an exploratory committee that would allow him to begin raising money as a candidate for the 2004 race. ''My candidacy is being extremely well-received by people of all ages in all parts of the state,'' he said. ''I offer a proven, effective leadership, a track record of representing all of Illinois and a...