U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias' campaign this afternoon released new poll results showing he's dead even with G.O.P. opponent Mark Kirk.
Giannoulias had trailed Kirk by six points last month after federal regulators seized Broadway Bank. The bank is owned by Giannoulias' family, and he worked as a senior executive during a period when Broadway wrote a series of questionable loans.
Kirk, a congressman representing the North Shore, is now tied at 44% with Giannoulias, according to Giannoulias pollster Michael Bocian. The campaign attributed the bump to ads painting Kirk as a Washington insider who hasn't done much to fix the economy.
"Mark Kirk is not interested in a race about the issues, but voters are," Bocian said during a conference call with reporters this afternoon.
Operatives also made an effort to portray the poll as the beginning of a post-Broadway chapter in the campaign.
"We are under no illusions that this will be an easy race to win," he said. "(But) we are very confident .. that we are going to be victorious."
I'll be checking with the Kirk camp for a response to the new polling data, and will update if/when I hear back.
Meanwhile, let me know what you think: Is this the end of Broadway? Or does more trouble lie ahead for Giannoulias?