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Illinois: Kelly Releases First TV Ad in Special Election

Cook County Chief Administrative Officer Robin Kelly will air her first television spot, marking the first Democratic candidate to hit the airwaves in the special election for former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.’s seat.

Her ad buy is for “at least” five figures on cable television in the 2nd District, according to a Kelly spokesman. The spot highlights Kelly’s support for gun control, a pivotal issue on Chicago’s South Side.

“In the legislature, she worked with Barack Obama to crack down on illegal gun sales,” a male narrator says. “In Congress, Kelly will keep taking on the NRA, fighting to ban assault weapons and outlaw high-capacity ammunition clips.”

The spot airs two weeks after an outside group started hitting one of Kelly’s chief competitors, former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Ill., for her prior support from the National Rifle Association. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PAC has spent more than three-quarters of a million dollars against Halvorson on the gun issue.

Kelly, Halvorson, state Sen. Toi Hutchinson and Alderman Anthony Beale constitute the top tier of candidates in the special Democratic primary on Feb. 26.

It’s a safe Democratic seat, so the Democratic nominee will come to Congress in all likelihood.

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