Note: Part of a series of video
interviews with 2010 congressional candidates who stop by the CQ-Roll
Call offices. Over the course of the next year, we will feature
interviews from as many top races as possible. Watch other interviews in this series here.

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is one of a several Democrats running for President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois. Public polling has shown he is the frontrunner in the Feb. 2 primary, but the same surveys also show he’s not unstoppable. What’s more, polls have also shown him in a competitive race with the likely GOP nominee, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, in the general election.

Giannoulias, a former professional basketball player in Europe, famously played ball with Obama  when they were serving together in Illinois. Although the White House has told the Giannoulias campaign that they will stay out of the primary, the 33-year-old Democrat has often evoked Obama’s campaign in his own bid.