The most striking thing about the Illinois Senate race is that neither party is particularly thrilled with the quality of its nominee. That may be one of the reasons the race has not had as high a national profile. But it’s still a very competitive race — tight enough that how well the third party candidates in the field perform could have an outsize effect on the outcome.

David Kurtz

David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.