Nov. 02--On the final weekend before Election Day, U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis met with friends Saturday at a "soft opening" of a new Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy store in Bolingbrook, one of many stops on his campaign schedule.
The Republican state senator is in an uphill battle to unseat three-term U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, who was among friends Saturday too.
Durbin, 69, appeared with first lady Michelle Obama at a get-out-the-vote rally in Moline, in western Illinois. The rally drew Gov. Pat Quinn, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos and other Democrats on the ballot Tuesday.
Obama, a Chicago native, has been stumping for Democratic candidates around the country leading up to the midterm elections. She appeared Saturday at the Wharton Field House, an indoor arena in Moline.
Oberweis, 68, told well-wishers in the DuPage County suburbs that the race had tightened in recent weeks, asserting that polls showed he was 5 to 10 percentage points behind Durbin and saying voter turnout would be key. The last Tribune poll showed Oberweis trailing Durbin by 14 percentage points.
Among those who turned out at the ice cream parlor, which opens for business Sunday, was state Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont, the Republican leader of the Democratically controlled chamber. The milk-and-ice cream parlor shares space with That Burger Joint, an Oberweis hamburger eatery.
Oberweis, in an interview, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about his electoral prospects but disappointed that Durbin would outspend him in the contest.
Oberweis launched his day with two stops in Wheaton: an American Legion pancake breakfast at the Cantigny Park Visitor Center and the French Market, an outdoor venue where bakery goods, fruits and vegetables, French tea towels and other trinkets are sold.
At the market, Gail Goodwin, 78, a retired educator from Wheaton, told Oberweis that he had already cast an early voting ballot for him. Goodwin lamented the state's "one-party" control by Democrats and said it was time for a change. "He's conservative," Goodwin said. "I like his values."
But Goodwin judged Oberweis' prospects as iffy. "It's going to be tough," he said. "He started from behind and it's going to be a tough road for him to hoe."
Oberweis travels to campaign stops in his red Cadillac XTS, with a license plate that reads 25, for his state Senate district, and a yellow "Dump Durbin" bumper sticker.
kskiba@tribune.com
Twitter @KatherineSkiba
