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Illinois Senate candidate denies he's gay

CHICAGO, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., responding to an ad by a GOP rival, says the veteran congressman is not gay.

Kirk officials made the pronouncement Monday while denouncing an ad run on Chicago radio stations by rival Republican U.S. Senate candidate Andy Martin quoting Illinois GOP activist Jack Roeser as saying there is a "solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual," The (Arlington Heights, Ill.) Daily Herald reported.

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"The ad is not true and is degrading to the political process. The people of Illinois deserve better," Kirk spokesman Eric Elk told the Herald.

Kirk is a five-term Republican congressman from Highland Park, Ill., who is running against four other candidates in the state's Feb. 2 U.S. Senate primary. A Naval Reserve intelligence officer, Kirk holds the rank of commander and has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo, his official Web site says.

The Illinois Republican Party also denounced Martin's ad, saying, "His statements today are consistent with his history of bizarre behavior and often times hate-filled speech which has no place in the Illinois Republican Party. Mr. Martin will no longer be recognized as a legitimate Republican candidate by the Illinois Republican Party."

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The Chicago Tribune described Martin a perennial candidate with a history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and legal disputes in federal court.

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