There will be a primary fight in the Democratic Party race for the State Treasurer's post.

Robin Kelly Monday made official her bid for state Treasurer.

She'll be opposed by fellow Democrat Kip Kirkpatrick—a businessman from Winnetka.
Kelly – a Bradley graduate – currently is chief of staff to the current Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

On News 25 at 9 Monday night, Kelly talked to Mike Dimmick about some of her goals for the office.

"I am passionate about economic development. And this past year, I worked with a team on something called "The Fresh Food Initiative," and I'm happy to say that legislation was passed in the House, and that money is in place to open grocery stores in underserved areas," said Kelly. "It's a project that was done in Pennsylvania. They opened up 30 grocery stores and 4,000 jobs were created. And people, when they think about food deserts here, some might think about urban areas, but they're all over the state of Illinois. I talk to Democrats and Republicans alike that would benefit from the program."

On the Republican side, Illinois State Senator Dan Rutherford of Pontiac has announced he'll be running for the post...naming a New York firm as his pollster and strategist this weekend.
The treasurer's job is open in the 2010 election because current Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias opted not to seek re–election to run for the U.S. Senate