5th term looks good for Link

Democratic state Sen. Terry Link was poised for a fifth term in office Tuesday, holding an overwhelming lead over his Republican challenger Keith Gray, 47, a small-business owner from Mettawa.

With 124 of 130 precincts in Lake and Cook counties reporting, unofficial vote totals showed Link garnered 36,736 votes to Gray's 20,668 votes. The vote totals included some early voting, but not absentee or provisional ballots.

Link's candidacy was engulfed in controversy early on with the indictments of two campaign workers over forging dead peoples' names on his candidate petitions.

Gray's campaign mailers and radio ads playfully criticized Link for trying to get support from dead people, but it did not overshadow the veteran senator's campaign. Link was cleared of any wrongdoing in the matter.

"I think what excites me the most about it is again they've run a very negative campaign against me, and I prevailed," Link said. "I did not send out any negative pieces. Never mentioned my opponent. I talked about issues."

Link, 61, a Waukegan Democrat who leads the party's Lake County wing and is the Senate majority caucus chairman, banked on his experience in the Senate and legislative record to win re-election.

During the campaign, Link touted his role in getting Illinois to enact a statewide smoking ban, and leading the charge on tougher environmental laws and capping property taxes.