*** UPDATE - 1:09 pm *** Dillard’s press release has just arrived…
Republican candidate for Illinois Governor Kirk Dillard today said that the ballot counting process in the GOP Primary must continue, “until all of the legal ballots have been counted and verified.”
With a little more than 400 votes separating Senators Dillard and Bill Brady, Dillard put the difference in perspective. “With over 750-thousand votes cast, this is a .0005 of a percent difference. So, in a race this close, it’s important that every vote count.”
Dillard said campaign estimates, based on contacts with all 110 election authorities across the state, show there are as many as 5,000 provisional ballots still uncounted. In addition, there are about 1,000 absentee ballots that have been delivered but not yet counted.
Dillard also said as many as 5,000 absentee ballots could still be in the mail, not yet delivered to election authorities. “I wish we could resolve this today,” said Dillard. “But the reality is that it takes time for election authorities to do their job and for these votes to be counted.”
Some election officials have told the campaign that they will wait until February 15 or 16 to count their absentee and provisional ballots. “So, we will have to wait awhile longer before those votes are counted,” Dillard explained. “When you have a race this important, it’s essential that every vote count. That’s what Senator Brady and I want, and we know that’s what the people of Illinois deserve.”
Dillard also said the GOP remains committed to defeating Governor Quinn in November. “The Republican Party is unified behind balancing our budget, putting people back to work and cleaning up Springfield. Senator Brady and I are absolutely committed to this goal, regardless of who’s the nominee.”
He said the two campaign staffs have been staying in touch. “So, we must allow the process to continue until all of the legal ballots have been counted and verified.“
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Sen. Kirk Dillard isn’t going away quietly yet…
Dillard, the state senator from Hinsdale, previewed a press conference he scheduled for 1 p.m. today, saying 5,000 to 10,000 absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, and the state elections board does not have to certify the results before Feb. 16.
“Let’s get all the votes in, let’s get a final count,” he said.
Asked how long the process might take, he said: “It will be a while.”
Sen. Bill Brady, however, is starting to crank up the rhetoric, saying on WGN this morning “It’s up to Mr. Dillard how long he wants to drag this out.”
* Check out this Google Insights chart to see how searches for Bill Brady started soaring in late January…
Brady’s “search surge” pretty much started around the same time that his “real” surge began in the Dillard campaign’s polling.
* Stu Rothenburg has moved the Illinois governor’s race from “Clear Advantage” (for Democrats) to “Toss Up”…
In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn’s (D) narrow primary victory exposed some significant weaknesses heading into the general election. State Comptroller Dan Hynes surged late but didn’t have enough time to overcome Quinn and now Republicans are happily repeating Hynes’ attack ads and themes. Quinn will face state Sen. Bill Brady (R) or state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R) in the general election, but the overall political environment may be Quinn’s toughest foe.
That’s pretty breezy and light, but that’s how he is. There are a million variables here and many of those are bad for the Democrats. Quinn’s people are hoping that Brady survives any possible recount, but even that is no guarantee. Yes, Brady is ideologically far to the right of this state’s center. He’s a guns, gays and God conservative who wants to cut taxes and borrow our way out of the pension mess. But he’s also a true happy warrior in the Reagan mold. He’s telegenic, decent on his feet, and will likely tear into Quinn on issues that Illinois actually cares about.
Dillard is the candidate the Quinn people fear most, and for good reason. But I wouldn’t count out Bill Brady - unless the national Democrats get their act together (and that’s probably hopeless) and Quinn stops making stupid mistakes and finally takes action on firing Blagojevich holdovers and that Dept. of Corrections Director. Quinn is easily definable in a general election. Take a look at his Downstate numbers from Tuesday and you’ll get a preview. His only real avenue is to scare moderates into viewing Brady as an unacceptable risk.
Thoughts?
* Related…