02-02 live thread: Illinois primary

[franksolich]

Today, February 2, is the first of the 50 state primaries this year, this one in Illinois.

GOVERNOR:

Pat Quinn (D), incumbent   
Dan Hynes (D), State Comptroller

Adam Andrzejewski (R), Businessman
Bill Brady (R), State Sen., Developer
Kirk Dillard (R), State Sen.
Andy McKenna (R), Paper Company CEO
Dan Proft (R), Political Consultant & Conservative Activist
Jim Ryan (R), Ex-Attorney General
Bob Schillerstrom (R), DuPage County Board Chair & Attorney

U.S. SENATE:

Alexi Giannoulias (D), State Treasurer
David Hoffman (D), Attorney
Cheryle Jackson (D), Chicago Urban League President
Robert Marshall (D), Physician
Jacob Meister (D), Attorney
 
John Arrington (R), Ex-Harvey City Alderman
Patrick Hughes (R), Attorney & Anti-Tax Activist
Mark Kirk (R), Congressman, Attorney
Don Lowery (R), Retired Circuit Judge
Andy Martin (R), Legal Activist
Kathleen Thomas (R), College Professor

[franksolich]

I'm not familiar with what's going on in Illinois, but I assume if one is a moderate or a conservative, the (R) Polish guy for governor is a good choice.

(I'm not being prejudiced; it's just that I've seen the name spelled, oh, maybe six different ways.)

And for the U.S. Senate, I assume Congressman Mark Kirk, who allegedly has a reasonable chance, despite the corrupt machines that run the state and Chicago, to take back this seat in November that might, or might not, have been Everett Dirksen of hallowed memory's seat.

Anyone from Illinois, set me straight if I'm wrong.

[franksolich]

Okay, I just checked; this is in fact the primary for the seat once held by Everett Dirksen.  After the colorful then-minority leader died in 1969, the seat was subsequently held by a bunch of nonentities and crooks.

Republicans last month reclaimed the seat once held by Henry Cabot Lodge in Massachusetts, so let's go for two restorations this election.

[thundley4]

Pat Quinn (D), incumbent   
Dan Hynes (D), State Comptroller

Adam Andrzejewski (R), Businessman 1st choice
Bill Brady (R), State Sen., Developer 2nd choice
Kirk Dillard (R), State Sen.
Andy McKenna (R), Paper Company CEO
Dan Proft (R), Political Consultant & Conservative Activist
Jim Ryan (R), Ex-Attorney General
Bob Schillerstrom (R), DuPage County Board Chair & Attorney

U.S. SENATE:

Alexi Giannoulias (D), State Treasurer
David Hoffman (D), Attorney
Cheryle Jackson (D), Chicago Urban League President
Robert Marshall (D), Physician
Jacob Meister (D), Attorney
 
John Arrington (R), Ex-Harvey City Alderman
Patrick Hughes (R), Attorney & Anti-Tax Activist 1st
Mark Kirk (R), Congressman, Attorney 2nd
Don Lowery (R), Retired Circuit Judge
Andy Martin (R), Legal Activist
Kathleen Thomas (R), College Professor

[franksolich]

Thanks, thundley4, sir.

In this case, unless I've been reading the wrong news, McKenna (for governor) and Kirk (for Senate) are generally expected to win, right?

What time do the polls close over there?

[Rick]

Has the Tea Party's endorsed anyone? It would be interesting to see how well they do.

[thundley4]

Polls close at 7 p.m., just under a 1/2 hour from now.

[franksolich]

Polls close at 7 p.m., just under a 1/2 hour from now.

Thanks, sir; I just got in, and couldn't find it.

[franksolich]

Voters Hit Polls in Illinois Primary

Voters are casting their ballots today in several local and state races.

A big one is the race for Illinios governor and on the Democratic side the primary has been especially nasty.

Gov. Pat Quinn spent his last hours on the campaign trail talking about a turn-around in the state's economy.

His challenger, Dan Hynes, talked about a turn-around in leadership.

One of Quinn's stops on the campaign trail yesterday was at the Hotel Allegro in Chicago, where he talked about his first year in office.

Hynes shook hands with construction workers downtown.

Both men will cast their votes in Chicago this morning.

On the Republican side, there are six candidates on the ballot today.

A recent Rasmussen poll put Andy McKenna, Jim Ryan and Kirk Dillard in the lead for the nomination.

Bill Brady, Adam Andrzejewski and Dan Proft were in the bottom half of the field.

Taxes have been the most highly debated issue in the race.....

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/elections/voters-hit-polls-illinois-primary-election

The race for Barack Obama's former senate seat has focused a lot of national attention on Illinois.

Republicans are hoping to recreate the Massachusetts Senate race and win another seat here.

The really contentious race is on the Democratic side.

Voters can choose from a field of four, but it looks like it's a three-person race at this point.

Alexi Giannoulias, David Hoffman and Cheryle Jackson have been leading in the polls from the start.

On the Republican side there are six candidates in the race, but congressman Mark Kirk has a strong lead among voters surveyed and he should have no trouble posting a victory today.

There are 7.5 million registered voters in Illinois and turn-out is predicted to be low with the weather.

Members of both parties want future primaries moved back to march to improve the chances getting more favorable weather.

[thundley4]

My local polling place was quiet today. It could be due to the fact that it was moved this year and we got the notice about 2 weeks ago.

[franksolich]

There's a special congressional district primary (primary, not election) down in Florida today also, to determine who's going to run for Robert Wexler's (D) seat.

It appears the 19th congressional district there is just north of Miasma; two Democrats, three Republicans, in that race.

[franksolich]

Is there some sort of conspiracy to keep the numbers from the public?

I've googled all over, and can't find a single site that offers voting numbers.

Results of past Illinois primaries and elections, yes, but not for today.

[thundley4]

I've checked the sites of my local TV stations, and have channel flipped, and nothing there either yet. During most elections they run a scroll at the bottom.

[miskie]

http://www.politico.com/2010/maps/#/IL

though I must admit, the reporting of the results has been anemic at best.

[franksolich]

In the midst of trying to find results tonight, I found myself in a crisis.

Carry on.

[blitzkrieg_17]

Combiner RINO Kirk won again.    Damn open primaries.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Combiner RINO Kirk won again.    Damn open primaries.

That was expected, since he has the name recognition.

He's not a complete RINO, I know he's voted for & supported some stupid sh*t.

The Chicago Tribune site had updated numbers this morning.  Don't know why there wasn't much available last night.

[Ralph Wiggum]

US Senate - Democratic Primary (99% reporting)

Giannoulias  345,265 39.0%   
Hoffman  298,845 33.8%   
Jackson  174,433 19.7%   
Marshall  50,725 5.7%   
Meister  16,000 1.8%   

US Senate - Republican Primary (99% reporting)

Kirk  416,853 56.6%   
Hughes  141,751 19.3%   
Lowery  65,771 8.9%   
Thomas  53,673 7.3%   
Martin  37,201 5.1%   
Arrington  20,888 2.8%   

Governor - Democratic Primary (99%)

Quinn  451,702 50.4%   
Hynes  444,500 49.6%   

Governor - Republican Primary (99%)

Brady  154,646 20.3%   
Dillard  154,143 20.2%   
McKenna  146,614 19.3%   
Ryan  129,686 17.0%   
Andrzejewski  109,954 14.4%   
Proft  58,861 7.7%   
Schillerstrom  7,343 1.0%   

http://elections.chicagotribune.com/results/

I see some frantic counting & re-counting on both sides of the Governor's race.

[miskie]

Well, assuming election turnout percentages are the same as this primary, the Republicans have about 150K or so vote gulf to cover - which is far smaller than I expected

So, like in Massachusetts, motivation is everything.

[Ralph Wiggum]

State election officials: Brady edges Dillard in GOP governor nomination

The Illinois State Board of Elections today certified the results of the Feb. 2 election and made it official that state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington edged state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale by 193 votes in the contested race for the GOP nomination for governor.

The difference amounted to a miniscule .025 percent of the 767,492 ballots cast in the heavily contested race for the nomination. Officially, Brady got 20.26 percent of the GOP primary vote, compared to Dillard’s 20.24 percent.

Dillard has said that if the state board figures did not put him within 100 votes of Brady, he would not seek a recount. He still has the option for a discovery recount that would resample the ballot counts from a small portion of election precincts. But he also has said he wants to avoid a recount—a full statewide recount could cost him more than $1 million.

He and Brady both planned news conferences later.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Pat Quinn was the winner for the governor’s nomination over Comptroller Dan Hynes by 8,372 votes out of 915,726 ballots cast. Officially, Quinn got 50.46 percent of the vote to Hynes' 49.54 percent.