The first Republican is on the air in the race for Rep. Mark Kirk’s (R) suburban Chicago seat. The ad buy is significant for businessman Dick Green (R), who is relatively unknown in the district with the GOP primary coming Feb. 2.

Green, who pumped $230,000 of his own funds into his campaign last quarter, is up with a $100,000 cable ad buy over the next three weeks, according to his campaign.

“For too long we’ve watched politicians tax and spend us into debt. When will this stop? When we send Dick Green to Washington — a Harvard-educated fiscal conservative and businessman with a plan,— says an announcer in the spot.

There are several candidates running for the GOP nomination, and the most competitive of the bunch are Green, fellow businessman Robert Dold and state Rep. Beth Coulson.

State Rep. Julie Hamos (D) was the first candidate in the race to hit the airwaves, in early November. She is running in the Democratic primary against the 2006 and 2008 nominee, marketing consultant Dan Seals.

Tales of Hoffman: Dark Horse Begins TV Blitz

Former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman (D) is up with his first advertisement in his bid for President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. Public polls have shown Hoffman trailing state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias with two months until the primary, and Hoffman appears to be spending campaign cash — he has already dropped $500,000 of his own funds into the race — to raise his profile with Illinois primary voters.

Hoffman speaks straight to the camera in the 30-second advertisement, which, according to campaign aide Thom Karmik, is a “substantial buy that will reach 75 percent of all Democratic voters.— AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded and formerly owned by top Obama adviser David Axelrod, produced the ad.

“Let’s take that fight to the U.S. Senate,— Hoffman says in the ad. “The bankers, the lobbyists and insiders have owned Washington for too long.—

The reference to bankers is an obvious jab at Giannoulias, who used to manage his family’s Chicago bank. Former Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Robinson Jackson and attorney Jacob Meister are also running for the Democratic nomination.

The winner will likely face Rep. Mark Kirk (R) in what should be a very tight general election.