Walsh declares victory over Bean, but counting remains in 8th District race

Republican Joe Walsh declared victory over incumbent U.S. Rep Melissa Bean in the 8th Congressional District early Wednesday, despite a handful of Cook County precincts left uncounted.

With 497 of the 8th District's 503 precincts reporting, Walsh holds a mere 797-vote lead over Bean, with 48.6 percent of the total. Walsh and Bean regularly traded leads as results rolled in throughout Tuesday night and into the early morning hours.

As of 8:15 a.m. today, Walsh had 96,636 votes to Bean's 95,839. Cook County election officials stopped tallying results in the remaining six precincts at 2:15 a.m., but said counting will resume sometime after 10 a.m.

In third place was Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer, with about 3.2 percent of the vote.

“This was a race won by a people's movement,” Walsh said early Wednesday. “Melissa Bean had more money than I did. I didn't have a ton of outside party support. But the people stood up and were counted.”

Walsh said he has some concern about the remaining votes in Cook County, believing there to be some questions over whether proper procedure was followed in the delivery of results.

He added that lawyers are standing by to look further into the county's handling of those six remaining precincts.

Walsh said he attempted to contact Bean's camp but hasn't heard back from the incumbent yet.

Bean is not conceding.

“For us right now, it's too close,” Bean spokesman Jonathan Lipman said Wednesday morning. It's believed there are thousands of uncounted ballots still in play, he added.

The surprisingly tight race could be something of a local litmus test as to how well the tea party movement will play in suburbia.

Walsh, of McHenry, emerged the victor from a six-candidate GOP primary field touting himself a tea party candidate first, a Republican second. He's provided as sharp a contrast as possible to the positions and voting record of Bean, a Democrat from Barrington.

From his opposition to abortion in every instance to his support of concealed carry gun laws, there were few issues on which Walsh's position agreed with that of his three-term opponent's. One of the most comprehensive areas of their disagreement was on the value of this year's health care reform bill.

Among the many aspects of the bill Bean said she was proud of was that it bars insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.

Walsh, on the other hand, sees repeal of the health care bill as a two-step process for a Republican-controlled Congress.

The Republican overcame several early challenges with his campaign, including the foreclosure of a condo, the resignation of several staff members and a lawsuit for nonpayment filed by his former campaign manager, who later claimed it was his idea for Walsh to run on a tea party platform.

Campaign tactics became as much a part of the 8th District race as the issues, with Bean agreeing to debate Walsh publicly only once despite his taunts that she was hiding from her constituents.

The 8th District includes parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.