More Good News from the Windy City

So yesterday we mentioned that Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife are headed for the graybar hotel because of corruption. As it happens, there's a special election coming up to replace Jackson Jr. and the Democratic primary is next Tuesday. One of the leading candidates is Robin Kelly. Thankfully she's not like the man she'd like to succeed, right? Oops:

After Robin Kelly lost a 2010 bid for state treasurer, the office's chief investigator alleged she violated ethics laws by improperly reporting time off from her taxpayer-funded job as chief of staff to then-Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the Tribune has learned.

Hmmm, that name Alexi Giannoulias is familiar, too. Why would that be?

In recent years, Illinois voters have favored Democratic candidates. But political experts say this race appears tight, particularly because Mr. Kirk is viewed as moderate on social issues and because Democrats have been plagued by scandal (it was this very seat that Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor, is charged with trying to profit from).

For months, Broadway Bank has tormented Mr. Giannoulias. First came news in January that regulators were requiring the bank to raise $85 million. Then reports emerged of questionable deals, including a story by The Chicago Tribune that said the bank loaned $20 million to two felons when Mr. Giannoulias still worked there.

Mark Kirk, for those of you who don't know, defeated Giannoulias in 2010 to win the Senate seat that once belonged to Barack Obama. So you're probably wondering -- how can a guy whose family owned a failed bank get elected as state treasurer? That's how they roll in Illinois. But not Barack Obama, apparently. It's a miracle, I tells ya.