A triumphant Mark Kirk affirmed a major Republican victory at midnight Tuesday after defeating Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.
“This Senate seat has just returned to its rightful owners, the people of Illinois,” said a Kirk spokesman.
Over 500 Kirk supporters cheered as the results started pouring in at the Westin Hotel in Wheeling. Kirk led Giannoulias 48 percent to 46 percent, with 97 percent of precincts reporting. The Democratic challenger soon after conceded.
“We are 800 miles from any ocean, but a tsunami just hit the heartland,” said Kirk.
The bitterly contested race has deeply rooted symbolism due to the fact that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently faced criminal charges for allegedly trying to sell the vacant Senate seat after the 2008 presidential election.
Kirk exclaimed to the crowd of euphoric supporters that Illinois is going to “reclaim our state as the honest Land of Lincoln.”
Kirk is considered moderate and, for many, is the ideal candidate to represent the Republican Party in these trying times. In his remarks, he addressed the fact that there needs to be sanctions against Iran and noted he is interested in adding a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
“I stand here tonight as a fiscal conservative, a social moderate, and a national security hawk,” Kirk said.
“It was a vote for fiscal responsibility, for spending restraint, for lower taxes, to put our economy back to work, to support the troops, to defend our allies…a vote for thoughtful independent leadership,” he said.
The sea of Republican supporters relished in the victory as the Zion Benton High School Junior ROTC presented the colors. Kirk’s pastor opened the evening’s remarks by praying, “Through his leadership, the strong will be renewed.”
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) also praised the evening’s champion, proclaiming, “Mark Kirk is the man for this job.”
Kirk is in his fifth term representing the 10th Congressional District of Illinois. He is a member of the commanding House Appropriations Committee, Co-chairman of the GOP Tuesday Group and the founder of the bipartisan House US-China Working Group.
The newly-elected senator thanked those individuals who assisted on the campaign and highlighted his faithful family and friends. Kirk quipped that he was confident that his father and stepfather were both watching the results from heaven — his father tuned into MSNBC and his stepfather glued to Fox News.
“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work,” said Kirk.
Kirk announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate on July 20, 2009 and won the Republican primary vote on Feb. 2 with 56.6 percent. Historically, no candidate has ever received more than 20 percent.
Kirk’s campaign hit several rough patches along the way. The Navy Reserve officer was forced to apologize for embellishing his military record; including claims he came under enemy fire while serving overseas and that he was the Navy’s “Intelligence Officer of the Year.”
The Giannoulias campaign suffered throughout the election as well, with the collapse of his family’s Broadway Bank and questions about financing he provided to alleged criminals as a loan officer.
“Alexi and I discussed having a beer after this thing is over,” said Kirk.
Kirk extended an invitation to Giannoulias to meet Wednesday night at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago.
Kirk graduated from New Trier High School and attended the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico as well as Blackburn College before earning a B.A. from Cornell. He respectively obtained a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Georgetown.
Kirk has voted with the greater part of the Republican Party 88.4 percent of the time during the existing Congress, but said he supports “independent leadership.”
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