Illinois State Senator – Barack Obama, Tuesday, March 16, won with a landslide victory to become the nominee for the Illinois’ Democratic party candidate for United States Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald.

Obama won by a victory margin of 53%, garnering over 600,000 votes across the state against a crowd of six Democratic contenders including– Gery Chico, Dan Hynes, Millionaire Blair Hull, Maria Pappas, Joyce Washington and Ann Skinner. 

It had been 16 months, since Obama launched his bid to run for the US senate seat.  Throughout that period, according to Obama, “conventional wisdom was that we couldn’t win. We did not have enough money. We did not have organizational machinery in place. 16 months later, we are here to say – Yes We Can”

Many Illinoisans, especially African Americans, confess that there has never been such a riveting race that drew many votes since the late Harold Washington ran for mayor in the City of Chicago back in 1983.

On November 2, Obama will face Jack Ryan, the Republican nominee in order to determine the next Illinois representative to join Sen. Richard Durbin in the United States’ 100-member Senate.

Since 1997, Obama has represented the 16th District as a state senator in the Illinois Assembly where Emil Jones, another state senator whom Obama has dubbed as his political Godfather, serves as senate president.

Tanzanian Envoy to the United States visits Chicago

Hon. Andrew Darajah, Tanzania's ambassador to the United States visited the City of Chicago on a three day tour starting Saturday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 16.

Though Hon. Daraja was scheduled to speak on Tuesday at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), officials of the newly found – Tanzanian Community Association in the Midwest had requested an early arrival in order to meet with members of the Tanzanian community over the weekend.

And as planned, Hon. Daraja who was accompanied by Joseph Sokoine, chancery first secretary, spent part of their first day visiting with members of the Tanzanian community at a jovial dinner hosted at the residence of Eustatus Kaijage in Olympia Fields, Illnois.


On Monday, March 15, Hon. Daraja met with officials at the Chicago Board of Trade, the Illinois Trade Office and the World Trade Center – Chicago in part to introduce Tanzania and seek possible economic opportunities.