NRCC Looking at Illinois' 10th Congressional

One of the more watched House races this year is going to be in Illinois' 10th Congressional District, the North Shore seat Mark Kirk is leaving to run for Congress. Democrats have been after Kirk's seat for a while now -- Dan Seals is going to get his 3rd shot this November -- because the district as a whole has been trending Democratic for nearly a decade. But Kirk's departure puts the seat more in play than it ever has been, and Republicans know it. So this is good news for Bob Dold, who won the Republican nomination in the 10th, as CQ Politics reports:

This week is set to be a busy one for the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" campaign program.

In a sign that the NRCC intends to continue expanding the Republican playing field in 2010, party officials are set to name 14 new challenger and open-seat candidates who have reached the first rung of the committee's three-tiered fundraising and infrastructure system. ...

The Young Guns system ranks candidates in three levels from "On the Radar" to "Contender" to "Young Guns." Candidates are named to the program by meeting individualized benchmarks set by the committee, which include developing grass-roots support, fundraising and creating a media plan. Those benchmarks become higher and more stringent with each level of the program. ...

As those candidates move to On the Radar status, 11 current candidates in that category will be moving to the Contender tier this week. Those GOP recruits include auto dealer Scott Rigell in Virginia's 2nd district, businessman Jon Barela in New Mexico's 1st district, businessman Bob Dold in Illinois' 10th district and Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier in Colorado's 7th district.

The Hotline's Reid Wilson has more:

The NRCC promoted 2 IL candidates -- state Sen. Randy Hultgren (R) and ex-McLean Co. Commis. Adam Kinzinger (R) -- after they won competitive primaries last week.

Receiving this kind of attention is very beneficial for House nominees, who more often than not have to slug it out by themselves. Dold, Hultgren and Kinzinger get a boost from this.