This from the Wallace campaign:

Wallace Steps Aside in Senate Race to Help Conservative Republicans Defeat Kirk

(Chicago, IL) Eric Wallace, Republican candidate for US Senate seat in Illinois, has announced that he is withdrawing from the Republican primary. Though Dr. Wallace, has energized voters across the state with a fresh new look for the Republican Party and has collected more than enough signatures to be placed on the primary ballot, he decided not to file in Springfield prior to the 5pm November 2nd deadline.

Wallace had placed among the top three favorites among the other Republican candidates at straw polls held throughout the state.”

Rev. Wallace commented, “I have decided to withdraw from the primary race and not to file as a Republican candidate for US Senate. Too much is at stake for the citizens of Illinois in this race and I have decided to put my personal ambitions aside to prevent the splitting of “true” conservative and Christian votes in the primary and thereby handing the nomination uncontested to Mark Kirk.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for handing this primary to Mark Kirk because my fellow conservatives and I split the vote in the Republican Party. Defeating Kirk has to take first priority because he is neither an economic nor social conservative. Look at his voting record. On fiscal and economic growth issues, he has one of the lowest rankings of any Republican as reported by the “Club for Growth Congressional Scorecard.” In fact, there are Democrats that rate higher than his 42%. On social issues and traditional values, “The Family Research Council’s Congressional Scorecard shows that 36 Democratic Congressman vote in support of traditional families (“the natural family”) more often than Kirk’s 17% score (www.frcaction.org). He is Illinois best example of a true R.I.N.O. (“Republican in Name Only”).

Wallace continued, "We have seen what can happen when the people take a stand and rally against an "R.I.N.O." candidate (i.e., New York State's congressional race). I hope our efforts result in a conservative win in our Illinois Republican primary. If that doesn’t happen, I will re-examine the situation. Many of my conservative and Christian supporters have asked me to consider entering the race as an independent. Hopefully, that will not be necessary and I can focus on helping the conservative Republican candidate through adoption of my “CONTRACT WITH ILLINOIS” and my L.I.F.T. Principles (Limited government, Individual freedom and responsibility, Free enterprise and Traditional family values) principles to help solve social and economic problems.

Dr. Wallace plans to continue speaking, writing and promoting conservative ideas among non-traditional Republican constituencies such as blacks, urban voters, and inner-city churches. Through Wallace Multimedia group, LLC, Dr. Wallace currently publishes Freedom’s Journal Magazine (FJM)—an online political magazine named after the first African-American newspaper. FJM (www.freedomsjournalmagazine.com) is a conservative Christian political journal with a biblical worldview targeted at the African-American community. Dr. Wallace’s most recent book is “Integrity of Faith: One Man’s Spiritual Journey Reflected in His Family, Work and Politics” available from Integrity Books (www.integritybooks.net).