Illinois Race Seen Key to Control of Senate

By David Schaper

Published March 17, 2004 at 12:00 AM EST

Political observers are closely watching the race to win the Illinois Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Many see Democratic candidate Barack Obama as his party's best chance to overturn the Republican majority in the Senate. If elected, Obama would become the third African-American senator since Reconstruction. Hear NPR's David Schaper.

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David Schaper

David Schaper is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, based in Chicago, primarily covering transportation and infrastructure, as well as breaking news in Chicago and the Midwest.

See stories by David Schaper

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