According to his Congressional website, IL Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is "recently separated" from his wife.
Funny, that seemed to slip in quietly and conveniently after his re-election and Burris' selection as Obama's replacement. I assume that, if there were to be a special election in Illinois, that little factoid would not have come to light, in case any of the Republican base wanted to make sure he would protect the institution of marriage. But now, with Burris in trouble that could lead to him being expelled, Governor Quinn might call for a special election and this could be important.
Even though Kirk has consistently won since 2000 in a District that has repeatedly voted for a Democratic president, his "independent and moderate" label seems pretty tarnished by his lockstep Stimulus bill no-vote (even though he was one of the few Republicans to vote for the TARP bill and he promised his district that he looked forward to working with Obama).
Although Honorable Kirk has a Masters Degree from the London School of Economics, he hasn't been particularly helpful in discussions about the economic crisis. His one contribution is to come up with a particularly idiotic talking point for John Boehner -- let's divide the total stimulus bill cost by the number of projected jobs to come up with a shocking $220,000 cost per job.
Wow, an economics degree and he comes up with that? How about separating out the tax cuts, food stamps, unemployment benefits, and all the other non-job creation elements from the total before you do the division? How about looking at all the materials and services that will be paid for, in addition to creating new jobs? How about acknowledging the value of the infrastructure repair and improvement that will also result? I wish he would show up with some smarts...the country needs informed thinking and that would be more patriotic than automatically voting the Republican line.
Be that as it may, he may soon become available...to be drafted as a Republican Senate candidate (since his bizarre-shaped District will probably disappear after the 2010 census, Republicans in Illinois don't have anyone else and he's too young to retire)...to find some new company to keep him warm in the dark night of the Republicans' soul.
He's entitled to some kind of personal life, but I'm just saying.
UPDATE: Now Kirk's website says he is "recently divorced."