Republican elected to Obama's old Senate seat

Mark Kirk won a hard-fought victory in a bitter battle with Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for the U.S. Senate seat that was held by President Barack Obama.

Kirk told his supporters in his victory speech:

We saw dark days surrounding this Senate seat.

Blagojevich tried to sell it.

Democrats fought a special election to fill it.

Now this Senate seat has just returned to its rightful owners, the people of Illinois.

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