Local election results detail Rauner's sweep of suburbs

Township-level results show the extent of Republican businessman Bruce Rauner's suburban sweep in last week's primary election.

State Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican, won only one township in his home DuPage County — Downers Grove Township — on his way to a narrow loss to Rauner in a four-way race that also featured state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington and state Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa, unofficial results show.

Downers Grove Township endorsed Dillard and delivered for him, but other Dillard endorsers, like Wheeling Township in Cook County, saw voters go for Rauner.

Dillard won in Downers Grove Township by just 39 votes, according to unofficial results, a margin of less than half a percentage point.

The longtime fixture in DuPage County politics put a heavy emphasis on being able to win there because, unlike in his narrow 2010 loss, he was the only candidate for governor that called the Republican stronghold home.

Rauner's ability to win in DuPage County, even if by smaller margins than in many other suburban areas, helped dampen Dillard's success at the polls.

Rauner won the Cook County endorsement, and his margins there and in the other suburban counties helped overcome a big Dillard advantage downstate. With the exception of Wheeling Township, all of Northwest Cook County gave Rauner a margin of 10 percent or more, and every township in Lake County gave him a 9 percent or better margin.

Rauner now faces Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in a race toward the Nov. 4 general election that promises to be both heated and costly.

As of Tuesday, McHenry County officials hadn't yet released township-level election results.

Local election results tell a much different story in Republicans' other major statewide primary battle, where losing candidate Doug Truax of Downers Grove fared relatively well in suburban townships compared to his 12-point loss overall to state Sen. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove.

Truax won townships in much of DuPage, Kane and Cook counties, including Chicago. Oberweis fared better in Lake County, according to unofficial results.