Some Illinois congressional races are getting ugly.

Democrats have several chances to pick up seats here and perhaps win control of the U.S. House. That attracts national organizations and raises the stakes.

In southern Illinois, Democrats accused Jason Plummer of wanting to end Medicare, but that's a distortion of what he said. Meanwhile, Republicans are exaggerating Bill Enyart's limited connection to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In eastern Illinois, GOP candidate Rodney Davis faces false accusations that he was "in the middle" of former Gov. George Ryan's scandal. Democrat David Gill is being called a radical who would wipe out Medicare.

And in northwestern Illinois, Republicans claimed Democrat Cheri Bustos wasted tax money to help her local country club. But she wasn't even a member of the club.