1998 - Senate Election

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Patrick Hughes references Peter Fitzgerald’s 1998 Senate race against incumbent Senator Carole Moseley Braun in his essay “The ‘Right’ choice” as an example of the “right” kind of Republican Senate candidate.  As opposed to Mark Kirk, the presumed “wrong” choice.  And while Fitzgerald’s defeat of Moseley Braun was important and affects Illinois politics even today, he didn’t win through any help from Pat Hughes.

By the end of her first term, Braun was an embarrassment to Illinois.  She had been investigated for diverting nearly $300,000 in campaign funds for her personal use.  Her fiancé was a lobbyist for the government of Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha.  Braun herself travelled to Nigeria, despite ongoing US sanctions, and defended Abacha from the floor of the Senate.  When conservative columnist George Will criticized her for these actions, Braun claimed Will was racist, saying “I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt.”

Fitzgerald pulled off a narrow win against Braun, defeating her by less than 3%.  It was an historic triumph for Illinois Republicans.  Fitzgerald was the first Republican to win an Illinois Senate seat in 20 years, and he was the only Republican to defeat an incumbent Democratic Senator in 1998.  Fitzgerald’s win was an historic triumph that Patrick Hughes does not share in, because Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in 1998.