An Illinois Candidate Makes a High-Caliber Bid
TIME Notebook: Talk about your e-commerce! Looking to get elected, a Republican raised money by raffling guns online
One of the three Illinois Republicans slugging it out for the GOP nomination for the House seat held by Democrat Lane Evans is using high-caliber weapons to secure his spot on
the ballot. Michael Curtiss, M.D., a general practitioner from western Illinois, raised about $50,000 in funds by raffling guns on the Internet. Currently up for grabs is a .50-cal. rifle that Democratic Chicago representative Rod Blagojevich is trying to ban the ArmaLite AR-50. Curtiss snidely refers to it as the "Blagojevich Special." At least 1,000 tickets at $20 a pop have been sold. Curtiss insists that the raffles promote awareness about the "threatened" Second Amendment as well as raise cash. Winners get a gun-safety course from the National Rifle Association. But if the dark horse Curtiss wins the March 21 primary, he'll up the ante. An aide told TIME that the small-town doctor may offer up a cannon for the general election: "It will be a Revolutionary War replica. But it will actually work." Now theres something to make your day.