 Marcel-Keyes gained public notoriety after her father was nominated by the Illinois Republican Party as its candidate for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald.The previous nominee, businessman and educator Jack Ryan, removed himself from the race after damaging information from his divorce records were made public.Marcel-Keyes and her father moved to Calumet City and later to Chicago for the race; Marcel-Keyes worked on her father's campaign.