Quinn declares himself winner; Brady has narrow lead in gov.'s race

Some of the candidates for Illinois governor may be weighing the pros and cons of a recount.

Both the Democratic and Republican primaries are too close to call.

Right now, the results are unofficial. Election authorities will count late-arriving absentee ballots, randomly check some of the results, inspect voting equipment and then declare official winners.

That takes two weeks. Then the losing candidates might decide to seek a recount.

Unlike some states, Illinois doesn't automatically conduct recounts in close races. Officials say the candidates have to go to court and ask for one.

They also have to pay for the recount.

It's a fitting photo finish for what political observers consider to be one of the most wide-open contests in recent state history.

The potential outcome is as clear as mud, said Paul Green, an election night regular and director of Roosevelt University's School of Policy Studies, as ballots continued to be counted across the state in an effort to cement the nominees. It was unclear early Wednesday when the two primaries might be officially decided as a mere fraction of percentage points and a few thousand votes separated candidates in both races.

Nonetheless, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn declared, "The primary is over" and deemed himself the winner, shortly after midnight.

But his opponent, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, vowed to wait until every vote is counted. About 7,200 votes separated the two statewide with 99 percent precincts reporting and about nearly 900,000 votes case.

On the Republican side, Hinsdale state Sen. Kirk Dillard predicted victory even as unofficial results showed Bloomington state Sen. Bill Brady less than a percentage point and a couple thousand votes ahead.

"In just a few more hours I feel confident this race will be called for us," Dillard told supporters after midnight.

Close behind in the GOP results were former state party Chairman Andy McKenna, followed by former state Attorney General Jim Ryan, Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski and Chicago political consultant Dan Proft.

McKenna raised the specter of final results not coming for days.

"The road is not finished," McKenna said late Tuesday. "Let's see how this moves along and see how we land in the morning or the next couple of days."

Under state law, a move for a recount would have to be filed with state election officials by one of the candidates, who would then have to pay for it.

On the Democratic side, a race that had been deadlocked in recent polling remained so early today. Again, less than a percentage point separated Quinn and Hynes statewide.

"The time for fighting is over," a beaming Quinn told supporters early today. "We have one less election."

While he conceded it was a "close election," he said, "but one more than the other guy is a landslide in my book."

In response to Quinn's declaration, Hynes campaign spokesman Matt McGrath said, "It's premature for anyone to declare victory in a race this close. ... So, we'll wait until every vote is counted, which is something the Democratic Party values, for good reason."

Hynes, addressing supporters before Quinn declared victory, said, "The numbers are still coming in. ... So tonight, we learned one thing for sure. That is that we are going to continue to fight. ... If democracy means anything, it means that we need to count all the votes."

Hynes continued, "Whatever the outcome, it is important for Illinois to get this right."

What happens next is unknown. The Republicans are all scheduled to appear at a unity breakfast this morning with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, an event intended to rally the party behind the nominee.

Hynes' aides said they were unsure what would happen today.

The early results were a mirror image of recent polling that had shown the races in a near statistical tie headed into the final days. The array of candidates combined with low voter turnout produced razor thin margins making the races nearly impossible to call.

In the Democratic field, Quinn jumped out to a more than 20,000 vote lead in Chicago and essentially held on as suburban and downstate votes mostly went Hynes way. With 99 percent of the unofficial vote in, Quinn was ahead by roughly 7,000 votes.

Quinn also was carrying suburban Cook County with more than 99 percent of the precincts counted there. Unofficial results in the suburbs had Quinn carrying Cook and DuPage counties and Hynes winning Will and McHenry. The candidates were neck and neck in Lake and Kane counties.

On the Republican side, McKenna similarly gained an early lead in Cook, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, but watched it erode elsewhere as Dillard and Brady ran strong downstate.

Ryan was carrying DuPage and Kane in unofficial results.

Ryan was the first of the candidates to officially bow out, telling his supporters in Lombard that he's "officially retired."

Eight years ago he'd emerged the GOP nominee for governor only to lose to Democrat Rod Blagojevich.

"I learned in boxing that sometimes you fight one fight too many; that happened to me tonight," Ryan, a former boxer, told a crowd of about 100 supporters.

"Don't lose your faith in government politics," he said, with family and extended family by his side. "We can do better in Illinois. The people deserve better."

He said he'd call and congratulate whoever wins, but might be waiting a while to make that call.

Low turnout in such a wide-open race was interpreted in many political circles as an indication of voter dissatisfaction with the state of politics in Illinois.

"Clearly it's been a close race. Everybody knew it was going to be a close race," said House Republican leader Tom Cross, who backed McKenna. He said it's increasingly difficult to predict voters. "They're scared, they're frustrated, they're angry. Who knows what drives people?"

Whoever ends up with the Democratic and Republican nominations will face Green Party nominee Rich Whitney, who ran unopposed in his party's primary.

Whitney said it makes no different to him whom the other parties pick as their nominees and believes his campaign will again provide frustrated voters a needed alternative.

"I think if anything it's gotten worse," Whitney said. "Sure there were the special factors with (former Gov. Rod) Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka, but overall I think the level of disgust with the two corporate-sponsored parties has grown."

The general election is in nine months on Nov. 2.

• Daily Herald staff writers Deborah Pankey, Marni Pyke, Chase Castle, Tim Magaw, Scott Morgan and Joseph Ryan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="/news/politics/elections/2010/primary/race/?id=1">Results, complete coverage on the governor's race</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>