GOP a long shot in Ill. senate race

CHICAGO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A top Republican has admitted his party has little chance of capturing Illinois' open U.S. Senate seat next year.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., told the newspaper Roll Call Wednesday, "The Land of Lincoln is not very Republican any more."

Allen is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

His Democratic counterpart agrees.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Spokeswoman Stacey Zolt. "Senator Allen knows the facts as well as we do: in the past three presidential years, Democrats have won Illinois from the top of the ticket down by increasingly large numbers, while Republican voters have stopped going to the polls."