CHICAGO (Reuters) - Gun control supporter and former Illinois state Representative Robin Kelly on Tuesday won the Democratic primary to replace indicted former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. in a race that highlighted the national debate over gun violence.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a champion of tighter restrictions on weapons, poured more than $2 million into the Chicago race. He backed Kelly and attacked her main opponent, Debbie Halvorson, who was supported by the gun rights lobby.
A little over an hour after the polls closed, Halvorson called Kelly to concede defeat, saying that Bloomberg's television attack ads had affected the race.
The ads highlighted Halvorson's support from the powerful gun rights lobby, the National Rifle Association, and her opposition to a ban on assault weapons.
"There was $2.3 million minimum spent against me," Halvorson told supporters after she conceded defeat. "That's the way it is. I can't help it."
Gun control vaulted to the top of the U.S. political agenda after the December 14 killing of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. The Chicago election on Tuesday was the first major test of the political potency of the gun control issue since the shooting.
The city's murder rate has risen because of what police say is a surge of gang violence in poor neighborhoods. The shootings have claimed the lives of dozens of young people including Hadiya Pendleton, a high school student who was killed just over a week after she performed at President Barack Obama's inauguration.
Obama has pushed Congress to pass restrictions on guns and Bloomberg has used his business fortune to battle the money and clout of the NRA.
Bloomberg issued a statement after Kelly was declared the winner saying that the Illinois vote showed Americans want change in Washington.
"As Congress considers the president's gun package, voters in Illinois have sent a clear message: We need common sense gun legislation now. Now it's up to Washington to act," he said.
Kelly favors an assault weapons ban and highlighted a rash of gun violence in Chicago, including some parts of the congressional district that stretches from the city to the southern suburbs.
The special election was to fill the seat of Jackson, who resigned in November citing health problems, and pleaded guilty in federal court last week to using campaign funds for personal enrichment.
Jackson was a reliable vote in Congress for gun control. Until Bloomberg elbowed into the race, polls had shown that Halvorson could win the Democratic primary.
Turnout was light in the special election in part because of a snowstorm that hit the Chicago area on Tuesday, making travel treacherous.
The winner of the Democratic primary is likely to be elected to the seat in the general election on April 9 because the district is overwhelmingly Democratic.
(Reporting by Renita Young, writing by Greg McCune, editing by Doina Chiacu)
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