Tuesday November 2, 2010
GOP Captures President Obama’s Old Senate Seat
By Peter J. Smith
CHICAGO, Illinois, November 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Republicans have captured President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat in Illinois as Mark Kirk beat out Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.
Kirk, who is pro-abortion, won with 48 percent of the vote, while Giannoulias, also pro-abortion, carried just 46 percent.
Kirk will be seated immediately in Congress and finish out the remaining months of President Obama’s U.S. Senate term before taking his full six-year term in next year’s Congress. He replaces acting U.S. Senator Roland Burris (D), who was appointed to fill Obama’s term until the special election.
While the Republican scored a nearly perfect pro-abortion voting record during his time as a U.S. Representative in Congress according to NARAL Pro-Choice America, he angered abortion activists in November 2009 by voting for the Pitts-Stupak amendment, and against the health care reform bill.
Kirk, a former commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, also voted against the repeal of a 1993 law dealing with gays in the military (commonly referred to as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), angering gay activists.
As the winner, Kirk will be seated immediately, in time for the upcoming lame-duck session, where a bill to overturn the military ban on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and abortions on military bases will be on the Senate’s agenda, along with 19 other legislative items.
The GOP is counting on Kirk to strengthen their filibuster; he has said he will vote against any lame-duck legislation.