Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth have won their Illinois primaries to set up closely watched Senate matchup that has been informally underway for months.
The race is expected to be one of the costliest and hardest fought of the November election. Democrats see Kirk's seat in this typically blue state as one of the party's best chances to unseat an incumbent as they try to regain control of the U.S. Senate.
Kirk, of Highland Park, defeated Oswego businessman James Marter on Tuesday. Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran from Hoffman Estates, used big advantages in fundraising and name recognition to defeat former Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris, a state senator and former NFL player from Harvey who owns several suburban Chicago pizza restaurants.
