CHICAGO - As Republican Congressman Mark Kirk readies to announce his fundraising numbers, Illinois voters deserve to know that, time and again, Kirk fills his campaign coffers with corporate special interest cash and votes their way every single time. Meanwhile, the Alexi for Illinois campaign today announced that it is on track to have its strongest fundraising quarter to date while launching a new web application so voters can see for themselves the stark difference in the way Kirk and Illinois Treasurer and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Alexi Giannoulias fund their respective races for the U.S. Senate.  Today, the campaign also issues a direct challenge to Kirk to follow Giannoulias' lead and swear off contributions from corporate political action committees (PACs) and federal lobbyists.

To date, Kirk has taken over $2.7 million from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists in federal races, with $620,000 of that raised for the 2010 Senate race alone - a figure which will swell when Kirk files his 2010 first quarter report.  By contrast, Giannoulias, having made a historic pledge to run his campaign without these kinds of contributions, has accepted zero dollars from these sources.

"Throughout his 10 years in Washington, Congressman Mark Kirk has taken millions from corporations and then voted their way and against the interests of the middle class," Alexi for Illinois campaign manager Michael Rendina said. "The choice in this race could not be more clear.  Mark Kirk takes millions of dollars from corporate special interests, and does their bidding in Washington. Alexi Giannoulias has pledged to the people of Illinois that he will always put their interests first by refusing to accept any contributions from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists."

Giannoulias pledged at the beginning of the campaign that he would not accept campaign contributions from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists, becoming the first U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois history to do so.  Meanwhile, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Congressman Kirk has collected $2,740,316 from these same sources since he first ran for Congress in 2000.   For his Senate campaign alone, Kirk has taken in at least $620,000 from these sources in less than a year's time.

"Congressman Mark Kirk relies on corporate and federal lobbyist cash like the rest of us rely on air to breathe," Rendina said.  "As the people of Illinois are taking stock of the candidates, they can rely on this site to keep score.  Unfortunately, what's become clear is that while Mark Kirk has managed to run up an enormous sum of corporate cash, it's the people of Illinois who have been shut out."   

The website is available at the following URL, or by clicking here: http://www.alexiforillinois.com/kirkinc