The junior senator from Illinois is Republican Mark Kirk, who dealt President Obama one of the worst blows of the punishing 2010 election by winning the president’s former Senate seat for the GOP. Kirk defeated Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer who got strong backing from Obama. Read More

The junior senator from Illinois is Republican Mark Kirk, who dealt President Obama one of the worst blows of the punishing 2010 election by winning the president’s former Senate seat for the GOP. Kirk defeated Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer who got strong backing from Obama.

Kirk was born in downstate Illinois, but grew up mostly in Kenilworth, a wealthy suburb north of Chicago, along Lake Michigan. The son of a telephone company executive, he graduated from Cornell University and the London School of Economics. He got a job in the Washington office of Rep. John Porter, R-Ill., and rose to chief of staff in three years. Kirk left staff work on Capitol Hill in 1989 but stayed in Washington, doing stints first at the World Bank and then as a State Department aide working on the Central American peace process, while earning a law degree at Georgetown University. After two years of international law practice, he served for five years as counsel to the House International Relations Committee. He is also a commander in the Naval Reserves.

In 1999, when Porter announced his retirement, Kirk returned home to the suburban 10th District, where he was one of 11 competitors in the Republican primary. This contest included six multi-millionaires who spent nearly $4 million of their own money. Kirk did not spend nearly as much, but he had great advantages: the endorsement of the popular Porter, his positioning as the only candidate with moderate views on cultural issues, and his greater experience in government. He won the primary with 31%, ahead of Shawn Margaret Donnelley, a R.R. Donnelley & Sons printing company heiress, who got 15%, and suburban Northbrook Mayor Mark Damisch, who got 14%.

Democrats nominated state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash. Kirk and Gash campaigned as candidates in the Porter mold, promising to carry on his fiscally conservative, culturally moderate record. Gash touted her legislative experience while talking about the need for action on Social Security solvency and affordable prescription drugs. But Kirk won 51%-49%.

After a few easy elections, Kirk held on by narrower margins in 2006 and 2008 as his centrist district broke strongly toward the Democrats. In those elections, he was twice challenged by Democrat Dan Seals, a marketing specialist who built well-financed grassroots campaigns. In 2006, the war in Iraq was a central issue. Kirk, while largely maintaining his support for the war, distanced himself from President George W. Bush and his handling of the conflict. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did some last-minute spending for Seals, including a mailing in which Bush had his arm around Kirk. But it wasn’t enough. Kirk won 53%-47%.

Seals ran again in 2008, a tough year for Republicans, especially those from the home state of Democratic presidential nominee Obama. Kirk kept his distance from the national GOP, and slammed John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate by saying he would not have chosen her. The DCCC ran ads depicting Kirk as a rubber stamp for Bush. Kirk cited his independence and campaigned more aggressively this time, calling Seals a carpetbagger without a steady job. He raised $5.4 million to Seals’ $3.5 million, and won by the same margin as 2006, 53% to 47%.

In the House, Kirk compiled a centrist voting record that leaned liberal on social issues and conservative on foreign policy. He supported abortion rights, and while he voted in 2009 against ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars homosexuals from serving openly in the military, he was generally supportive of gay rights. He received good marks from environmental groups and teamed with then-Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois in 2005 to push through a sweeping bill to clean up the Great Lakes. He was one of eight Republicans to vote for the Democrats’ 2009 energy bill putting limits on industrial carbon emissions, but later reversed positions in his Senate campaign. He supported Obama’s troop increase in Afghanistan, but opposed the president’s timetable for withdrawal.

Kirk decided to run for the Senate in 2010, after the seat was vacated by Democrat Roland Burris, who had been appointed by then Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill Obama’s unexpired term after he won the 2008 presidential election. Burris was soon neck-deep in the pay-to-play scandal that ended Blagojevich’s political career. The Democratic governor was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly amid allegations he attempted to profit politically and personally from his power to make the Senate appointment. He was later convicted of lying to federal investigators. In the course of the scandal, Burris conceded to having several conversations with the governor’s associates while the appointment was pending. His reputation badly damaged, Burris decided against seeking election to the seat in 2010.

As a fiscal conservative and foreign policy hawk, Kirk was the only socially moderate Republican with a chance of winning a Senate seat in 2010, the year of the tea party. In the February primary, he did not face a credible challenge from his right and avoided a tough primary challenge. Meanwhile, Giannoulias emerged from the Democratic primary bloodied, facing questions about his role in his family bank’s loans to criminals and high-risk decisions that had put the bank in trouble. Federal regulators seized Broadway Bank in April 2010 after it became financially insolvent, and from then on, Giannoulias was unable to escape questions about his role in the bank’s failure. He was a vice president of the bank from 2002 until he ran for state treasurer and won in 2006. Republican dubbed him the “mob banker.”

National Democrats pulled out all the stops for Giannoulias, including two appearances by Obama, a friend who included Giannoulias in his pickup basketball games. A parade of administration officials and Democratic senators campaigned with Giannoulias or helped him raise money. He spent a cool $7.8 million, but Kirk still managed to top that with $10.5 million.

However, Kirk faced his own character issue. During the campaign, he was caught telling voters he had been previously named the Navy’s intelligence officer of the year, which wasn’t true. He also exaggerated other aspects of his military record. And he was on the defensive for some of his votes, including his support of the Wall Street bailout in 2008 and of the Democrats’ cap-and-trade bill to curb carbon emissions associated with global warming. During the campaign, he said he no longer supported cap and trade because of its potential harm to businesses in the state. He told National Journal, “I didn’t back away a little. I backed away entirely.”

Television ads from both sides reflected the battle over character. Democrats’ spots called Kirk a liar, while Republicans highlighted Giannoulias’ connection to reputed organized crime figures. Polling in the contest see-sawed between the two candidates. Giannoulias benefited from a Democratic registration advantage and the outpouring of support from the White House, but he struggled to close the deal. Polls in the final weeks showed a large segment of the electorate, roughly 15%, still undecided. On Election Day, Kirk eked out a 48% to 46% victory.

In the Senate, Kirk said in the National Journal interview that he would look to work with “the people who are not in favor of new taxes but do not bring a strong social agenda to the table.”