Fight still left in Laesch
Standing alongside about 100 supporters in his Aurora campaign headquarters, John Laesch pledged Friday not to concede the Democratic congressional primary election until hundreds of absentee and provisional ballots are tallied.
"We have no choice but to await the final results of the Feb. 5 primary election," Laesch said.
Unofficial results show Laesch, a Kendall County carpenter, 355 votes behind Bill Foster, a Geneva scientist and businessman, in the regular primary. The margin is less than one vote per precinct; there are 645 precincts in all or parts of nine election jurisdictions.
Laesch didn't rule out a recount request but said his current focus is counting absentee and provisional ballots. His campaign team has yet to determine exactly how many ballots remain uncounted.
In Kane County, the most heavily populated election jurisdiction in the congressional district, there are just 114 Democratic absentee ballots that have yet to be received and counted. Election authorities have until Feb. 19 to count those votes, as long as they are postmarked on or before Tuesday.
In Kendall and DeKalb counties, the number of outstanding Democratic absentee ballots is in the low double digits.
Among the uncounted votes is one cast by Laesch's younger brother Sgt. Pete Laesch, who voted absentee on Election Day from his Army base in Germany.
Laesch, a Navy veteran who entered politics because of his strong opposition to the Iraq war, said he believes many of the absentee ballots cast by military members stationed overseas favor him.
"I would assume they would vote for the veteran," he said.
And unlike other voters, many absentee voters weren't exposed to Foster's TV commercials and glossy mailers.
In the special primary, more than 4,000 votes separate the two candidates, a result that forced Laesch to concede in that race. Two primaries were held simultaneously to pick nominees to compete in two distinct races: a special primary to nominate candidates for former U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert's unexpired term and a separate 2-year term.
Foster declared victory in both races and has begun campaigning against Republican Jim Oberweis. Early voting begins in less than a week for the special election, scheduled March 8.
Among those encouraging Laesch to keep fighting was state Sen. Mike Noland. The Elgin Democrat, who referred to Laesch as "Cinderella Man" and compared him to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, lost two state legislative races by close margins before finally winning in 2006.
"It's so close, we have to do it," Noland said. "The fight goes on. No matter what the result, young man, you have an extremely bright future."
If it turns out Foster received the most votes, Laesch promised to support him.
"I would hope that every Democrat would work hard to get the Democratic nominee elected," Laesch said.