It was almost 10 years ago that Peter Fitzgerald became a United States senator. January 1999 was the first time in more than 30 years that Illinois voters sent a Republican senator to Washington.

According to Kent Redfield, the interim director for the Institute of Legislative Studies, the coming election in 2010 could offer the GOP its best chance since Fitzgerald defeated incumbent Carol Mosley Braun, to win an Illinois senate seat, but divisions within the party could prevent a victory.

Because of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment and removal from office, growing discontent with President Barack Obama’s administration and the state’s financial problems, experts and party leaders say the Republicans are poised to seriously challenge the Democrats in a bid for Obama’s former senate seat.

“If the Republicans are going to get a U.S. Senator from Illinois this is as good an opportunity as has existed since … Fitzgerald won,” said Kent Redfield, a professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Controversy has surrounded current Democratic Senator Roland Burris, who was appointed by the scandal-plagued Blagojevich shortly before the former governor was impeached. Burris was recently admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for not disclosing that he had several conversations with the governor and his brother about fundraising for Blagojevich before he was appointed. Burris will not be seeking election.

While he cautioned that the party would have to “work hard” in order to win the seat, Curt Conrad, executive director for the Republican Party in Illinois, believes that “the Republican party is going to come out pretty strong” across Illinois.

“I think we have a great chance across the state of Illinois,” Conrad said. “With the business climate, jobs are leaving Illinois, people have had enough. And with the corruption factor with Rod Blagojevich and subsequent people after, that has had some type of impact. The people of Illinois are ready for a change.”

Redfield agreed with Conrad, and added the fact that Democrats are in power nationally could have a negative impact on whoever is the Democratic nominee.

“There’s no question that there’s going to be some fallout from the Democrats being in charge,” Redfield said. “This is about as good of a shot as you’re going to get at electing a Republican senator from Illinois because the Illinois Democratic brand has been damaged and at the national level, there is less energy.”

But it’s not just the faltering of Democrats that has Republicans feeling optimistic about 2010. According to the campaign manager for Republican candidate Patrick Hughes, in the past two years, conservatives have become more active and involved in politics. And he said that is going to have a big impact in 2010.

“The conservative base is very motivated and very excited about the 2010 elections,” said campaign manager Mike Sullivan. “We haven’t seen in a long time a conservative base that is really wanting to be involved in a grassroots way.”

Hughes, a real estate developer, got involved recently in politics at the grass roots level when he organized the conservative group Sensible Taxpayers Opposed to Increased Taxes. He formed the organization in January 2009 to fight against Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed income tax increase.

After the increase was defeated, Hughes began talking with other conservatives about a possible candidacy for senate. Fueled by GOP front runner Rep. Mark Kirk’s vote in favor of the cap-and-trade energy bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hughes decided that the party needed a “real conservative” candidate.

“As far as a lot of typical Republican values go, Mark Kirk just didn’t stand with the conservative base of the Republican Party,” Sullivan said.

On his Web site, Hughes calls himself the right choice because he votes with the conservative base on several key issues, and contends that Kirk does not. Along with his cap-and-trade vote, Hughes’ Web site also criticizes Kirk for not supporting a strong national defense, not standing up for the second amendment, for being “pro-abortion” and for voting against an amendment that would have defined marriage as being only between one man and one woman.

The battle over the “conservative base” that has been spreading across the nation could prevent a GOP celebration in 2010.

“There is a huge fight within the Republican Party in Illinois about its identity,” Redfield said. “[Illinois] historically has not been dominated by the more conservative part of the Republican base.”

According to Sullivan, that is already changing. However, Conrad contends the battle over the base is happening in other parts of the county, not in Illinois.

“In Illinois, I don’t see the split,” Conrad said.

But Sullivan and Hughes say they certainly do.

Sullivan said that he has seen a surge for a conservative candidate in Illinois and across the country, and Kirk doesn’t fit the bill. He pointed to the New York District 23 special election in November as proof of the power of the more conservative sector of the GOP.

In that race, Republicans lost a special election to replace departing Republican Rep. John McHugh. In the election, a third party candidate from the Conservative Party of New York drew support from some GOP leaders, leading then Republican candidate Diedre Scozzafava to withdraw from the race and endorse the Democratic candidate.

Redfield said he believes that in the end, Kirk will receive the Republican nomination, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be damaged by the division.

According to Redfield, it will be an issue if Kirk receives the Republican nomination, whether the conservative sector of the party will turn out to vote for him in the general election.