Discuss election results as they come in. We’ll have live CBS video soon.
My dad just called from downtown Chicago. As I told you earlier, he’s driving the Obamalac. While I was on the phone with him I heard someone yell, “Hey! You’re Rich Miller’s dad!” He got a kick out of it.
Afternoon updates are here. Morning updates are here. Those posts are now closed to comments.
Anyway, chat to your heart’s content. I’ll post some updates soon.
* 12:34 AM - One other thing before I get back to the “real” gig. This post is probably the most disgusting piece of garbage written by an Illinois blogger this year, and that’s really saying something. I guess I’ll just never understand how people can write such crazy-horrible things.
* 12:32 AM - With everything else going on (mainly in the subscriber section and on the phones), I forgot to point out that Congressman Mark Kirk appears to have won by a large margin. Also, Jim Oberweis lost. Again. Will he finally go away?
* 12:29 AM - Cook County Clerk David Orr needs to either fix his system or let someone else have his job…
Engineers from the company that sold ballot counting hardware and software to Cook County are still trying to figure out why systems aren’t working. […\
Election results are being held up because of a problem with the system that converts the voting data into properly formatted resuts.
The vice president of Sequoia, the company that built the hardware and software the county’s using for vote counting, says two teams of company engineers are working on the problem but aren’t yet sure what is wrong or how long it will take to fix it.
* 11:29 PM - After seeing some late poll numbers on Sunday, this is about what I figured…
Question - Constitutional Convention - General
November 05, 2008 - 12:22AM ET
Illinois - 10549 of 11585 Precincts Reporting - 91%
Name Votes Vote %
No 2,736,270 68%
Yes 1,303,758 32%
* 10:52 PM - From a press release…
With the con-con referendum declared defeated, the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution offers the following statement from Nancy Kaszak, Executive Director of the Alliance.
“This campaign was a unique opportunity for organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum to come together and provide real leadership.
Voters saw through the rhetoric and rejected opening up our state’s foundational document to wholesale re-write. We look forward to working with leaders of every political persuasion to solve the challenges facing Illinois.”
* 10:30 PM - The AP has called it for Peter Roskam. Not sure when. Just noticed it.
* 10:20 PM - From Deutsche Presse…
A white Cadillac painted with ‘Obama O8′ and ‘Obamalac’ in red, white and blue drew laughter and cheers from the crowd on an unseasonably warm night in the ‘Windy City.’
* 10:02 PM - CBS just called it for Obama.
* 10:02 PM - No surprise: Halvorson declared the winner.
“Marty just conceded,” said Andy Sere, Ozinga’s spokesman. “It was a hard-fought race. At the end of the day we were outspent two to one by the other side. It’s a tough political environment. With the Obama factor at the top of the ticket, it was too hard to overcome. Marty is proud of the campaign he ran.”
* 9:47 PM - Man, what a blowout so far…
State’s Attorney - Cook County - General
November 04, 2008 - 10:54PM ET
Illinois - 1840 of 4865 Precincts Reporting - 38%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Alvarez , Anita Dem 508,154 74%
Peraica , Tony GOP 143,875 21%
O’Brien , Thomas Grn 34,738 5%
* 9:40 PM - Some of the polling I saw showed that Republicans and downstaters were the most opposed to the constitutional convention. Check out these results from DuPage so far…
YES - 84,605 - 31.36%
NO - 185,177 - 68.64%
* 9:25 PM - Looks like a Halvorson stomp at the moment. 406 of 613 precincts counted, Dem congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson leads Republican Martin Ozinga 58-35 with 7 for the Greenie.
* 9:18 PM - Only 10 precincts counted, but still funny…
Precincts Counted: 10 of 86 (11.63%)
Candidates Votes %
Emil Jones, III (DEM) 2,035 51.62%
Ray Wardingley (REP) 1,907 48.38%
* 9:16 PM - Tribune Twitter: Barack Obama is on the move to Grant Park, with several dozen police cars in tow
* 8:54 PM - Excerpt from a statement by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. which was sent from an official government [not campaign, a government] e-mail address…
“The election of Barack Obama as President is a defining, shining moment in our country’s history. We, as a nation, move closer to the mountaintop.”
* 8:48 PM - Cook County totals usually come in a flood. Right now, it’s hardly a trickle. From the Cook County Clerk’s website: Precincts Counted: 13 of 2,290 (0.57%)
* 8:31 PM - From Steve Sauerberg’s concession speech…
“I didn’t enter this campaign because I had a burning desire to be a United States Senator. “I didn’t subject myself and my family to the rigors of a statewide run because I liked seeing my face on TV or hearing my voice on the radio. No, I entered this race because I believe in Illinois, and the people of Illinois, and because I believe our government can and should do better.”
* 8:07 PM - With 495 of 11,585 precincts reporting (4 percent), the constitutional convention question is running 36% “Yes” and 64% “No.” We’re looking at about a 60,000 vote margin.
* 7:51 PM - According to the exit polling data posted by CNN, Dick Durbin won every demographic except two: Republicans and conservatives. But, Durbin got 25 percent of the Republican vote and 35 percent of conservatives.
* 7:50 PM - CNN exit polling numbers in the Illinois US Senate race can be found at this link.
* 7:48 PM - According to the CNN exit polling, Obama won white Illinoisans 54-45, he won white independents 55-43. He won 29 percent of conservatives. McCain won among white men 50-48.
* 7:45 PM - CNN has released Illinois exit polling for the presidential race. Click here.
* 7:33 PM - The only congressional results we’re getting so far is the Foster vs. Oberweis race. 29,367 for the Democrat Foster, and 18,001 for Oberweis.
* 7:19 PM - From the Chicago Board of Elections…
In terms of voting, the evening rush was FAR slower than anticipated — absolutely nothing like the morning rush of voters.
The only wards in our recent phone sampling that are showing any sizable changes since 3:30 p.m. are in the far outlying sections of the city. The phones have been dead for the last hour.
We’re now anticipating slightly lower turnouts (right at or slightly below 80%?), as there appears to have been a Grant Park rally effect where it now appears that most of the voters who were determined to participate did so this morning.
This also will mean far fewer lines and returns earlier in the evening.
* 7:17 PM - Links to live results, radio broadcasts, and individual election authorities are in the pulldown menu on the upper right side of the page.
* 7:01 PM - The polls closed at 7 o’clock, and the networks have called Illinois for Obama. Not exactly a surprise. New Hampshire was also called for Obama.
* 6:58 PM - The CBS 2 banner on the right gets you live election coverage. Click it, or just click here.