Robin Kelly breezed to victory in the Democratic primary Tuesday night in the race for the 2nd Illinois Congressional district to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation by former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. The race received national attention by making gun violence and the National Rifle Association (NRA) the main issues.
Singling out the NRA, Robin Kelly told a crowd of supporters in her victory speech at a Holiday Inn in her own hometown of Matteson that “You sent a message that was heard around our state and across the nation. A message that tells the NRA that their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end. And their days of scaring Congress into submission on gun control are coming to a close.”
While ballots are still being counted from across several counties, it is clear that Robin Kelly received at least fifty-three percent of the vote. Her closest rival was former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson who garnered twenty-three percent of the vote and Alderman Anthony Beale had roughly eleven percent of the vote.
Robin Kelly scoffed at the suggestion that she only won because of the Bloomberg Super PAC ads, which spent nearly two and a half million dollars. The ads run by the Independence USA PAC, first attacked Debbie Halvorson with her "A" rating from the NRA. Later, the ads were more positive in favor of Robin Kelly.
However, Robin Kelly gave credit in her acceptance speech to the endorsement from Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos. The endorsement came in early February in favor of Robin Kelly for Congress and gave the campaign an immeasurable boost, not only in money, but in volunteers. It also solidified her standing in the community as the "true" progressive in the race. Markos Moulitsas is "the leading" progressive voice in America and the Daily Kos is "the leading" progressive platform in America.
Markos Moulitsas endorsed Robin Kelly because he wanted to help deal a blow to the NRA's continued power in Congress. Because of Markos influence with the Daily Kos, $139,719 was raised from 6,507 donors. Hundreds of Daily Kos volunteers from all over the country showed up at Robin Kelly election headquarters in Richton Park.
In the end, the campaign had counted their 20,000 pluses and those volunteers turned out the vote which in the end nominated Robin Kelly for Congress.
Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions or even to volunteer for Robin Kelly at johnpresta@att.net.
John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books. John has volunteered for many political campaigns and is currently an unpaid volunteer for the Robin Kelly for Congress campaign. Robin Kelly also has a facebook fan page.
Comments