New Candidate May Run for Senate in Illinois

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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June 15, 2010

New Candidate May Run for Senate in Illinois

An independent candidate plans to enter the U.S. Senate race in Illinois, according to Chicago Business.

Mike Niecestro describes himself as "a disgusted Republican" who's unhappy with the two major-party nominees in the contest: Alexi Giannoulias (D) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R).

Niecestro claims he already has roughly the 25,000 signatures he'll need to get on the ballot as an independent, and he plans to double that by the June 21 deadline. Perhaps even more important, he says he'll spend $1 million of his own money and has already raised $100,000 in additional contributions.

A new poll out later today will show there is definitely room for another candidate in the race.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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June 15, 2010