A good indicator of what might happen tonight in Illinois is buried in the schedules of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Romney will have his election night party outside of Chicago, while Santorum will be in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Late polls have shown a solid edge for Romney over Santorum in the Land of Lincoln, the latest midwestern state where Romney has used a distinct advantage in radio and television advertising to hold off Santorum.
Both men held multiple rallies on Monday in Illinois, as they held the lion's share of attention in the state that's also home to President Barack Obama.
Romney's schedule though gave me the feeling that Romney advisers were going in for the kill, as he hit more than just Chicago, with rallies in recent days in cities like Rockford and Springfield - areas that should be prime territory for Santorum.
Even if Romney wins today, don't look for Santorum to go running out of the race, as he has been ahead in the polls in Louisiana, which votes on Saturday.
54 delegates are at stake today in Illinois, but like in Ohio on Super Tuesday, Santorum isn't eligible for all of them because he failed to file full delegate slates.
Illinois has a two-step ballot process as first you vote for the presidential candidate, then you vote for the specific delegates - Santorum has no one in those slots in four of the 18 congressional districts in Illinois.
Unlike in other states where each congressional district is worth the same number of delegates, Illinois Republicans vary the number of delegates based on how "Red" the district was in the last election.
Some districts have only two delegates to offer - they were very "Blue" in the last election for Democrats; others have four because they were the most Republican.
While Romney will hold his election night gathering in the Chicago suburbs, Santorum will be in Gettysburg, Pennslyvania, as his campaign tried to draw parallels between Lincoln's famous speech there and Illinois, known as the Land of Lincoln.
"Rick Santorum has chosen to celebrate the evening at the very place President Lincoln gave his most poignant and passionate defense of freedom and the American spirit," said campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley.
"This week marks the two year anniversary of the passage of ObamaCare - and we are again fighting for freedom," Gidely added.
The Obama health law and the similarities to what Romney pushed through in Massachusetts have been a common refrain for Santorum, and will be again tonight.
