A couple more tidbits from the U.S. Senate race in Illinois ...

Yesterday, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) highlighted the fact that GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk had received a $1,000 contribution from the now infamous Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) in 2006.  On an afternoon conference call, the DSCC lined up State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), a member of the White House Legislative Working Group on Healthcare Reform, to denounce Wilson's outburst at President Obama's Wednesday address and demand a reaction from Kirk.

"The comments by Congressman Wilson were completely out of line and completely out of place," Mendoza said. "It really put the emphasis, in my mind, on the fact that we need people in Washington who are committed to meaningful reform. I think it's time for Kirk to give back Congressman Wilson's donation as a symbol of his commitment to meaningful reform."

Mendoza further described Kirk has "beholden to the insurance industry," noting that he has accepted over $300,00 from insurance industry PACs during his time in Congress.  Hopefully someone will also ask Kirk what he thinks of fellow Illinois Rep. John Shimkus' decision to walk out of Obama's speech in protest. After all, as recently as two weeks ago, the two Republicans were campaigning together downstate. 

For more on Kirk's staunch opposition to the Democrats' health care reform efforts, read the latest blog post from Ellen Beth Gill.

Meanwhile, in yesterday's report on David Hoffman's campaign launch, we failed to mention that he pledged to take no campaign contributions from PACs or state and federal lobbyists. Watch his remarks on the issue (apologies for the shaky camera work):  

As you may remember, Alexi Giannoulias made a less expansive pledge at the outset of his Senate campaign -- saying that he wouldn't take money from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists.

Speaking of Giannoulias, he announced some new endorsements earlier this week:

MWRDC Commissioner Debra Shore
Monroe County Chairman/ILDCCA President Alan Pirtle
Madison County Democrat Central Committee
Monroe County Democratic Central Committee
State Representative Dan Beiser
State Representative Greg Harris
St. Clair County Chairman Bob Sprague
42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly
42nd Ward Democratic Committeeman John Corrigan
Buffalo Grove Mayor Elliott Hartstein
Olney Mayor Mark Lambrid

The Giannoulias campaign also reported: "In the span of 60 days, over 1,000 energized people have volunteered for our campaign. They’ve made almost 6,000 calls to voters across Illinois about why Alexi will move us forward, away from the failed policies of the past and into a promising future."