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  Illinois Senate Primary Airs Divorce, Drug Use Details
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ContributorGerald Farinas 
Last EditedGerald Farinas  Mar 13, 2004 04:59pm
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CategoryNews
MediaNews Service - Reuters
News DateSaturday, March 13, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionIllinois Senate Primary Airs Divorce, Drug Use Details
Reuters

Illinois voters go to the polls on Tuesday to pick contenders in a U.S. Senate race that could alter the balance of power in Washington but has turned into a public airing of nasty divorce details and drug use. Democrats see Illinois as one of their best chances to grab a seat from the Republicans. The retirement of Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald has lured 15 candidates - seven Democrats and eight Republicans - including a retired general, a talk show host, a paper company executive, a dairy owner, and a county prosecutor. Seven are millionaires. If polls are correct, the winners of the primary would be two photogenic, Harvard-educated candidates: Liberal black Democrat Barack Obama, 42, a state senator who would be the only African-American in the U.S. Senate if elected, and Republican Jack Ryan, 44, a millionaire investment banker turned inner-city schoolteacher.

The campaign has been dominated by controversy over the divorce of the early Democratic front-runner, Blair Hull, 61, a millionaire former stockbroker who launched his fortune at Las Vegas blackjack tables and has poured $29 million into the campaign. Divorce records have also become an issue on the Republican side, with Ryan's rivals calling on him to make public sealed details of his divorce from TV actress Jeri Ryan. Ryan insisted he was keeping the records private to protect the couple's son, citing a stalker who came after his ex-wife.
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