Lt. gov. races go down to wire

The Republican primary race for lieutenant governor went down to the wire Tuesday night, with state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine trailing by a thin margin to downstater Jason Plummer on the Republican side.

In the Democratic race, the lone suburban candidate - state Sen. Terry Link of Waukegan - did not garner enough votes to win, as Chicago businessman Scott Lee Cohen appeared poised for victory. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago came in second, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting on the GOP side, Jason Plummer of Edwardsville, the former Republican Party chairman in Madison County, led with 236,445 votes, or 34 percent of the total votes cast. Murphy trailed by about 5,000 votes, having 231,469, or 33 percent.

John Pastuovic, a spokesman for Plummer, said the candidate was "cautiously optimistic" about winning the nomination. Murphy was not ready to concede late Tuesday.

"I don't know if we know yet what has been counted and what hasn't been counted," Murphy said, adding that precincts are still reporting vote counts.

About the close nature of both the Republican lieutenant governor's and the governor's primaries, Murphy said "2010 is off to a wild start politically in Illinois."

Cohen led Democrats with 209,402 votes, or 26 percent of the total. Turner trailed with 178,288 votes, or 22 percent.

Link, about to start his 14th year in the Senate, had 98,735 votes, or 12 percent of the total. He said he was disappointed by the results.

"I ran for this office because I wanted it, it's something I've thought about for some time," he said. "It's disappointing to see how it all turned out."

Link then blasted Cohen, the apparent winner in the Democratic race, for trying to "buy an election." Cohen spent nearly $1 million on the race, while Link spent less than a quarter of that.

"I'll be honest, it looks like campaign finance reform means nothing in Illinois," he said. "The race is being led now by someone who's unqualified for the job, but decided he'd buy his way in. That will make things tough for this party in November."

Cohen couldn't be reached for comment late Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Turner said the veteran Illinois legislator took a glass-half-full look at the results. Turner was proud of the way he ran the campaign and proud of his supporters.

As for the money spent by Cohen on the race, Turner viewed that as Cohen's prerogative, the spokeswoman said.

Murphy, who ran with Andy McKenna, a candidate in the Republican governor primary, jumped to a big lead shortly after polls closed on Tuesday. But as the votes were counted, Plummer gained ground.

Historically, the race for lieutenant governor has been a slow one, as the he post has few official responsibilities. This year, though, 13 people ran in Tuesday's primary: six Republicans, six Democrats and one Green Party candidate.

The profile of the position might have been raised when Pat Quinn, the last man to hold it, took over as governor after the ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Link said he wasn't sure what made it such a popular position this year.

"It's surprising, all the people who ran, and I'm not sure if there's one particular reason for it," he said.

Pastuovic said Plummer ran because he saw an opportunity to "elevate" the position.

Neither party's race generated much in the way of fireworks. Most of the candidates campaigned on issues largely out of the lieutenant governor's hands and rather focused on expanding the role of the office to help boost the economy, create jobs and bring accountability to state government. Cohen ran one of the more visible campaigns, blanketing the radio airwaves with commercials that touched on economic issues and buying billboard space along tollways and highways.

Though voters choose lieutenant governor candidates individually during the primary election, the winners in each party run in the general election as part of a slate with the parties' governor.

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<li><a href="/news/politics/elections/2010/primary/race/?id=3">More on Illinois Lt. Governor's race </a></li>

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