We're only one week away from the Illinois primary, but GOP U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis is already looking ahead to November.
NBC 5 has learned that Oberweis flew out of Illinois Saturday, and is at his million-dollar Bonita Beach Florida condo until the end of the week.
When reached by phone, Oberweis would not confirm his whereabouts, and when he was repeatedly asked whether he's in Illinois, he replied, "I think you've figured out by now that I'm not answering that question."
Oberweis did say he's "really focused on November," where he hopes to battle incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
His opponent in the March 18 primary, Doug Truax, says the Florida trip is proof Oberweis is unelectable.
Truax has had a difficult time getting Oberweis to debate him. However, the two have appeared side by side in 18 different competitive endorsements -- from town forums, to editorial boards -- and Truax has won 14 of the 18 endorsements.
Truax, a West Point grad, owns a business tied to the insurance health care field.
"I have said from the beginning of the primary that Jim Oberweis is the wrong guy to take on Dick Durbin and he just demonstrated why," Truax said in response to Oberweis' trip. "We need a warrior to take on Durbin, not a timid snowbird."
Oberweis is a dairy magnate who has run for five offices over the past 11 years. He lost four of the five, winning an Illinois State Senate bid in 2012.
