Rep. Mark Kirk, a moderate five-term member of Congress, has won the Republican nomination for the Illinois Senate seat being vacated by the doomed-from-the-beginning appointee Roland Burris (D). With 58 percent of the precincts reporting, Kirk swamped a GOP field that included real estate developer Patrick Hughes, former judge Don Lowery and three others.

On the Democratic side, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has a small but steady lead over David Hoffman, the former Chicago city inspector general who was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times. Trailing in third place is Cheryle Jackson, on leave as head of the Chicago Urban League.

Burris was appointed to the seat by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich following the election of Barack Obama as president and, more important, following Blagojevich's arrest on corruption charges.

With 58 percent of the vote in:

REPUBLICANS

Kirk* 58.5%
Hughes 18.2
Lowery 8.5

DEMOCRATS

Giannoulias 38%
Hoffman 34.5
Jackson 20.8

In the closely-watched Democratic primary for governor, Pat Quinn — who became the incumbent following the conviction and ouster of Blagojevich — has a narrow lead over three-term state Comptroller Dan Hynes. With 58 percent of the vote counted, Quinn has 51.5 percent to Hynes' 48.5 percent.

In the Republican primary, former GOP state chair Andy McKenna has a slight lead over state Sen. Kirk Dillard. In third place is former state Attorney General Jim Ryan, who lost to Blagojevich in 2002.

Tags: On The Ballot