GOP fundraiser in Chicago an early show of support for Kirk

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Republican leaders turned out Monday for an early fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's 2016 re-election campaign, a show of support that appeared aimed in part at trying to dissuade potential GOP primary challengers.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, a half-dozen members of the state's congressional delegation and some of the party's biggest Illinois donors were among the GOP faithful who appeared at a downtown Chicago club, some paying up to $15,000 a ticket. The event raised more than $200,000, Kirk said.

Kirk, elected in 2010 to the vacant seat once held by President Barack Obama, is a top target of Democrats as they try to win back the Senate. Many also consider him to be among the most vulnerable, coming from a Democratic leaning state in a presidential election year. At least four Democratic members of Congress are contemplating a challenge to him.

But the fundraiser also was a sign to donors and any Republican rivals that Kirk has no reservations about a campaign, despite his continuing recovery from a 2012 stroke that leaves him relying at times on a wheelchair or cane.

"If you're looking at running against him, that's the take away - the depth and scope of Kirk's support," said Tom Cross, a former GOP leader in the Illinois House, who attended.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said it is "a little bit early" for an incumbent U.S. senator to be holding big fundraising events. But he said Kirk's health has left questions whether he would run for a second term, and the event helps lay to rest any question whether he was wavering.

"He needs to send a clear signal and this does that," Yepsen said. "One of the subtexts of this is Mark Kirk's health. Is he up to the job? It'll be there and he needs to address it."

Kirk, 55, did address the health question at the fundraiser. In informal remarks as attendees finished their afternoon meals, he said he once contemplated campaigning by walking across the state. Alluding to how he now often uses a wheelchair, he said, "The walk across Illinois got junked."

Speaking to reporters later, he added, "News of my political demise ... has been premature."

At the fundraiser, Kirk sounded confident as he spoke about domestic and foreign affairs. The loudest applause came when he said Obama isn't doing enough to go after the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. "We need to be killing a lot more ISIS people at a faster rate," he said.

Those attending the fundraiser said Kirk's health could prove a political asset. Kirk went through months of intense physical and speech rehabilitation after his stroke, returning to work in Washington a year later.

"Those who are never going to support Mark Kirk are going to question his physical abilities," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican, speaking in a hallway at the event. "Those who know Mark Kirk know this has made him stronger and a better senator."

Speaking to reporters, Kirk suggested he was not worried about an intra-party challenge. But he indicated he thought the general election against a Democratic nominee would be a different story.

It is, he said, "a race I expect to be a barn-burning race."

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Associated Press Writer Kerry Lester in Springfield, Ill., contributed to this report.