BLOOMINGTON – Republicans and Democrats went into the wee hoursof Wednesday morning, unsure who would represent their parties inthe race for governor in the November general election.
Excitement ran high late Tuesday night as state Sen. BillBrady’s supporters watched him edge closer to the Republicannomination.
“It’s amazing. It’s exciting that our own state senator is upthere at the top. He’s going to be our next governor,” said McLeanCounty Sheriff Mike Emery at Brady’s election night watch party atthe Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center. “He’s put a lot of hardwork into the campaign, and it’s paid off and rightfully so.”
Early this morning, the Bloomington lawmaker held a bare leadover state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, with 98 percent of theprecincts reporting statewide. the totals were 153,876 for Bradyand 152,271 for Dillard.
The Democratic race was equally tight, with Gov. Pat Quinnclaiming victory over Comptroller Dan Hynes, though the unofficialtotal had Quinn ahead just 441,451 to 436,074 with 98 percent ofprecincts reporting, a statistical dead heat.
But Quinn, the embattled successor to disgraced former Gov. RodBlagojevich, has told supporters he’s won the close race.
Minutes earlier, Hynes vowed to fight until every vote wascounted.
Enthusiasm grew throughout the night at the Doubletree Hotel,and the turning point came about 10 p.m. when Brady’s brother, Bob,took the podium. He announced his brother had pulled into the leadin the six-man race with a 2,900-vote margin with 89 percent of theprecincts counted.
“That’s on the right side,” he said as the crowd cheeredwildly.
“I’m so excited. I can’t stand it. It will be the sweetestvictory ever,” said Brady campaign worker Karen Otto, who used towork for Sen. John Maitland, Brady’s predecessor in the stateSenate.
Showing how tight the race turned out to be, the lead shiftedminutes later to Dillard. by 11 p.m., the lead was back in Brady’shands, but Dillard and former GOP Chairman Andy McKenna only ahandful of votes behind.
Tom Pliura, a physician and lawyer from LeRoy, was thrilled thata local candidate might be the GOP nominee for governor.
“Regardless of your party, it’s exciting to have a downstateindividual running,” he said.
As the race tightened through the night, bill Brady monitoredthe votes in a side room as supporters mingled and watched theresults on large-screen televisions. Brady rarely emerged to speakto reporters.
At 10:30 p.m., bill Brady credited his “grass rootsorganization” for stepping up to make his second run for thestate’s top office so successful.
“It’s going to take a grassroots candidate to win the campaign,”he said. “That’s why we are going to win in November.”
Arriving about 8:30 p.m. with his wife, Nancy, bill Brady toldreporters he was “confident” despite the fact that pre-electionpolling had him running behind other candidates.
“I think it’s going to be a late night,” the senator predictedthen, noting there were a lot of “strongholds” that had not yetreported.
McLean County Republicans attended to cheer on theircolleague.
“It’s a great thing for Central Illinois and the state ofIllinois. It’s a real positive,” said State’s Attorney bill Yoder.”Billy will make a great governor. I can’t even express how excitedI am.”
pwelander@pantagraph.com
The associated Press contributed to this article.