2010 Senate Races in Missouri and Illinois

The 2010 U.S. Senate elections in Missouri and Illinois should prove to be very interesting. In Missouri Democrat Robin Carnahan (currently Secretary of State) has announced that she is running and will likely have no challenger in the primary. Republican Roy Blunt (currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 7th district) has announced that he is running as well. If these two face off it will be a showdown of two political dynasties in the state. Sarah Steelman, the Republican former State Treasurer who lost the 2008 primary for Governor, is also seriously considering entering the race. Much of the Republican establishment would prefer to avoid an ugly primary, as was the case when Ms. Steelman for Governor last year. However this plays out, it will be a very competitive race for an open seat in a swing state and will be very well funded on both sides.

The Illinois Senate race has not taken as much shape yet, but certainly looks like it will be a bit of a circuis. Current Senator Roland Burris has been the center of much controversy and will certainly have a Democratic primary opponent should he chose to run for reelection. Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer, announced this month that he was forming an exploratory committee to explore running for the Senate seat. Also, it looks like the GOP will target the seat in the 2010 election, as long as the NRSC has a candidate they like. Who would you like to see run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2010?