Looks like we know who the Republican challenger is...

[VIDEO] According to the Chicago Tribune Paul McKinley had only 955 votes and about 23 votes separated him from his closest challenger Eric Wallace. The conservative publication National Review even used this as the time for a piece to talk about the 2nd Congressional District race.

The video above will show in a nutshell who Mr. McKinley is running against - the "Chicago machine". I've seen various videos of him debating and being interviewed and it seems very consistent with what he discusses. Even I was like listen to this man, he's outspoken and he could stand out in a race.

At the same time when you stand out - I say this whether positively or negatively - then you might run into pieces like this from FOX Chicago. It looks like Mike Flannery has done some research on McKinley:

McKinley--who has been convicted of 6 felony counts and served nearly 20 years behind bars for armed robberies, aggravated battery, and burglaries--refers to himself as an "ex-offender" who wants to get other ex-offenders to work.

McKinley was also arrested 11 times from 2003 to 2007, mostly for protesting. Records show he also owes $14,147 in federal taxes.

There are dozens of districts where very few voters bother to participate in Republican primaries, setting the stage for ugly surprises. Remember entertainer "Spanky the Clown?" He won the GOP nomination to face Mayor Daley in 1995. That may have been good for a laugh. But those who dream of rebuilding the Republican Party in Chicago aren't laughing at the apparent nomination of convicted armed robber Paul McKinley.

"He's not a Republican, obviously, and he doesn't represent the Republican Party," says GOP activist Chris Robling.

As one who's helped lead public and private conversations about rebuilding the GOP in Illinois, Chris Robling said he knows this much: former burglar and armed robber Paul McKinley is not the sort of new leader the party needs. In a series of campaign videos, McKinley said he cared little for Democrats or Republicans.

BTW, I should note you have some citizen journalists such as Rebel Pundit who have made the charge that Chicago's mainstream media ignored Republicans in this race. As a matter of fact not long before the special primary election Rebel Pundit reported how the local FOX affiliate for whom Flannery is employed had largely ignored the Republican contest.

Of course the reason is mainly that they're not expected to succeed in this case in a district that hasn't elected a Republican to Congress in over 50 years. And in the piece above expect McKinley to not get a lot of support from his party for his run, Flannery even compared him to a former clown who ran against Richard M. Daley for Mayor back in 1995.

On April 9th it will be Robin Kelly v. Paul McKinley. Can we expect a different result in about one month from now?