It's over.
Broadway Bank, for 30 years the Giannoulias family's business, has closed. The Chicago Tribune reports that federal regulators entered the Uptown building just a few minutes ago.
The shutdown was expected after the bank failed to come up with the $85 million it needed to stay out of government hands, and it confronts Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias as his campaign has struggled to win attention from the White House and maintain fundraising pace with Republican Mark Kirk.
Giannoulias, the state treasurer, worked at the family bank before he joined Illinois government in 2006. He served as a vice president and loan officer, and has been repeatedly accused of knowingly approving loans to criminals such as convicted felon Antoin Rezko.
His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bank's closing, but Giannoulias has maintained that he did not know he was lending to criminals, and that, during his tenure at the bank, it performed well.
According to Politico, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has estimated that the cost of shutting down the bank will be $394.3 million.
The political costs could be even higher. While Giannoulias has hinted at the possible dissolution of his family's bank, the reality of its closure is sure to impact a race that focuses deeply on financial issues and the economy. Giannoulias, as state treasurer and previously a bank officer, will come under growing fire on his role as a financial steward.
Before a Republican fundraiser yesterday, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said the bank's closing would be a "tragedy."
"It's a tragedy for a lot of people," he said. "It's a tragedy for Alexi's family."
But Brady left no doubt that the GOP would use the event to help catapult their Senate candidate, Republican Mark Kirk, into power.
"It's significant to the race," Brady said.