WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin admits Democrats took a beating in last week's election. Republicans became the majority of representatives in the U.S. House.

Republicans picked up enough seats in the midterm elections to win back the House. But the Senate is still run by the Democrats. That might make President Obama’s job easier – he’ll face a divided Congress as he tackles future items on his agenda.

By nearly every measure, the GOP had a big night on Tuesday.  But what about things closer to home?  Who were the big winners and losers in Illinois?That's where things get much more interesting.

Republican Mark Kirk has captured the Senate seat once held by the president, dealing an embarrassing blow to Democrats.Kirk defeated Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in one of the nation's ugliest and most closely watched Senate races.     Giannoulias faced attacks over

President Barack Obama heads home to Chicago Saturday to rally Democratic voters ahead of next Tuesday's elections.The president has been appearing in campaign ads for U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, and he recorded robo-calls encouraging Democrats to vote.

I'm going to start calling this daily blog post: Hot Breakfast.‚  I usually have it ready by early morning now, so maybe you can read it while you are eating your canned peaches. Let's begin: