Among the most important elections in the Feb. 2 primary is the battle for the U.S. Senate.

Illinois voters will, among other things, vote in the Feb. 2 primary election to elect a candidate to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after his election in 2008 to the presidency.

Much has been said and written about this seat, mostly concerning the bizarre, perhaps criminal, efforts by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill it by appointment. Now under indictment for trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder, Blagojevich ultimately appointed veteran politician Roland Burris to the post. Burris, however, was so tainted by the appointment and its aftermath that he opted not to run for election.

So it's an open seat, and voters in both the Democratic and Republican primaries have plenty of candidates from which to choose.

In our view, the most impressive candidate to represent the Democrats in the fall election is David Hoffman, a former prosecutor who has devoted much of his career to cleaning up municipal government in Chicago.

The Republicans' best choice is veteran U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Chicago-area congressman who has served several tours of military duty in the Middle East.

Democrats

Voters will have their choice of five candidates seeking the Democratic Party's nomination: Hoffman, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson, Chicago lawyer Jacob Meister and radiologist Robert Marshall.

Hoffman would be an outstanding candidate in any year, but he's especially attractive this year in the aftermath of relentless political scandals in Illinois exemplified by Blagojevich's removal from office and indictment.

Despite his relative youth, the 42-year-old Hoffman has a long record as a federal prosecutor and an inspector general in the city of Chicago. Hoffman was appointed to the inspector general's post after another in a long line of political scandals there, and he was expected to sit idly by while business continued as usual.

Instead, Hoffman led vigorous investigations of corruption in city government, irritating a host of political heavyweights. He later was appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn to serve on a commission formed to take testimony and make recommendations on how to root out corruption in Illinois goverment. The commission's report was a good one, though largely ignored by Hoffman's fellow Democrats in the Legislature.

Nonetheless, his commitment to honest government cannot be questioned, and that will help Democrats in the fall if he is their nominee.

As for his politics, Hoffman is a conventional liberal who embraces most, if not all, of the Obama agenda – no surprise considering Obama's roots in the state Democratic party. He favors the Obama health plan, although he prefers a public option, and wants to focus on rebuilding the slumping economy,

Hoffman and his two main opponents, Giannoulias and Jackson, mostly agree on the issues.

Giannoulias has done a credible job as state treasurer, although it's important to remember the office is administrative and mostly runs itself. He deserves credit for forthrightly addressing the issue of Springfield's Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Convention Center, the result of a political scandal going back more than 20 years. Giannoulias' office foreclosed on the hotel and put it up for auction, helping taxpayers recoup some of the funds they loaned for its construction.

But Giannoulias has scant experience, working in a family-owned bank and relying on his close association with Obama to move up the political ladder. At 33, Giannoulias has done little and shown little to earn a seat in the U.S. Senate.

As for Jackson, she should be permanently tainted by her three-year association with Blagojevich as his press secretary. The last thing Illinois needs is a Blagojevich apologist and defender as its representative in the Senate. She's never held elective office, working in a series of high-paying public and private jobs. Her campaign is poorly funded, but she's hoping her status as a black woman competing against four white males will put her over the top on election night.

This ought to be an easy choice for Democrats. Hoffman is, far and away, the best Democrats have to offer.

Republicans

Six candidates are vying for the affections of GOP voters – Kirk, retired downstate judge Donald Lowery, political gadfly Andy Martin (formerly known as Anthony R. Martin-Trigona), Springfield's Kathleen Thomas, Harvey's John Arrington and Hinsdale lawyer Patrick Hughes.

Lowery makes a good impression, and Hughes is campaigning as a fire-breathing conservative. But the obvious choice for the GOP, both in terms of policy and electability, is Kirk.

Kirk, who is 50, is a proven vote-getter who draws support from both Democrats and Republicans. He was general counsel to the U.S. House Committee on International Relations before being elected in 2000 to the U.S. House from Illinois' 10th District, an area that gave Obama 61 percent of the vote in the 2008 presidential election.

Kirk is an independent thinker who has drawn fire from Democrats for being too conservative and conservatives for being too liberal. Obviously, he does not hew to any partisan line, and that's to his credit. He describes himself as a social moderate and a fiscal conservative.

Kirk pledges to place the economy at the top of the priority list, emphasizing the importance of reducing astronomical budget deficits. He also urges members of Congress to end the practice of seeking earmarks, essentially pork barrel projects, for their home districts.

Kirk's area of distinct expertise is foreign affairs, and he not only preaches on the subject but practices it as well. A commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, Kirk goes on regular duty assignments, serving in the Middle East as well as in Pentagon's war room where his work focuses on military intelligence.

Kirk is the only sensible choice for Republicans who would like to take back the Senate seat. Complaints that he is too this or too that miss the mark entirely. He's a great candidate for the GOP to offer voters this fall.