CHICAGO — The primary election that was expected to launch a political battle in President Barack Obama’s home state instead left Democrats and Republicans squabbling among themselves Wednesday over governor’s races that were virtually tied.
Gov. Pat Quinn claimed victory in the Democratic primary over Comptroller Dan Hynes, despite a margin of less than 1 percent. He got a congratulatory telephone call from Obama on Wednesday.
“It’s time to end the fighting,” Quinn said as he thanked voters at a Chicago train station. “I don’t believe we are benefiting in Illinois, certainly in the Democratic Party, by having fighting.”
Hynes didn’t concede but scheduled an “important announcement” about the race this morning. His campaign did not return repeated messages seeking more information.
On the GOP side, state Sen. Bill Brady led by just a few hundred votes over state Sen. Kirk Dillard. Dillard said a win by Brady, a downstate conservative with little support in the Chicago area, would hurt the GOP’s chances of reclaiming the governor’s office.
“If he’s the nominee, he’ll have a much, much more difficult time than me beating Pat Quinn,” Dillard said Wednesday at a Republican “unity” breakfast.
Illinois Republicans hope to capture the governor’s post as well as Obama’s former Senate seat by exploiting Democratic turmoil and scandal, including the arrest and ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The Senate primary produced no surprises. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, an Obama friend and former banker, captured the Democratic nomination. Five-term U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk was the Republican pick.
For governor, it was a different story. One or both of the races could wind up going to a recount.
Illinois law doesn’t require recounts in close races, so the candidates would have to decide whether to request one and cover the costs.
Quinn’s lead had widened Wednesday evening to 8,090 votes out of more than 912,000 cast. Brady’s lead in the Republican race was a mere 406 votes out of 765,000.
Quinn is trying to win the governor’s office on his own merits after inheriting it a year ago when Blagojevich was ousted, partly over allegations that he tried to sell Obama’s former Senate seat. But he was weighed down by the baggage of his two campaigns with Blagojevich, his support for a major tax increase and a botched program that granted early release to some violent prison inmates.
The race became a dead heat with Hynes, and the two traded bitter accusations of incompetence and dirty campaign tactics.
Dillard, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, has positioned himself as a pragmatist who can get things done in an often paralyzed state Capitol. Brady focuses more on his conservative credentials and absolute opposition to raising taxes to bail out a state government facing the worst budget crisis in its history.
