CHICAGO – Candidates for Jesse Jackson Jr.'s former congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday ahead of a high-stakes primary, but turnout was expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate.

The front-runners – former state Rep. Robin Kelly, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale – made a flurry stops at train stations, strip malls and diners all over the district that spans Chicago's South Side, south suburbs and some rural areas. They faced a truncated campaign season, the frenzy for endorsements once locked up by Jackson and even a potential Election Day winter storm.

But Danny Armstrong, 51, who had voted previously for Jackson, remained undecided between Beale and Kelly and was considering whether to even vote at all. Jackson pleaded guilty this month to illegally spending campaign funds and became the third consecutive congressman in the district to leave office under an ethical or legal cloud.