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The Spectacle Blog
Shortly before polls closed in Illinois last night, a source with Adam Andrzejewski’s gubernatorial campaign told me that exit polling showed surprisingly strong support for state Sen. Bill Brady in the seven-candidate Republican primary. And at last count, with 97 percent of precincts reporting, Brady was clinging to a 2,400-vote lead over state Sen. Kirk Dillard.
A recount may be necessary to determine the official winner, and the same may be true in the Democratic primary, where state comptroller Dan Hynes refused to cede to incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn.
In a primary where the five leading candidates fell within a six-point range — from 20.6 percent for Brady to 14.5 percent for Andrzejewski — the Tea Party favorite fell 40,000 votes short. Despite the disappointment among Andrzejewski’s supporters, they took some solace in the outcome. Brady is reliably conservative and his victory would be a defeat for Dillard (who appeared in a TV ad praising Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign) and also a defeat for former state GOP chairman Andy McKenna. Conservatives blamed McKenna for the weak and directionless condition of the state Republican Party, and he appeared headed to a third-place finish.
Andrzejewski’s concession statement was optimistic and foward-looking:
Tonight we learned the road to A New Day in Illinois is longer than we had hoped. But the fight we waged … does not end tonight and certainly does not end with my campaign. Over the course of the last year, you have opened a new chapter in Illinois politics and renewed the Reagan revolution that first came to Illinois in 1976. We have formed Tea Parties, 9/12 organizations and other advocacy organizations that have re-ignited the consciousness of conservatism… . Today, we may have been delayed, but we have not been denied.
I am committed to rebuilding our party and I am committed to re-laying the foundation with the values and principles our nation’s founders knew to be essential for liberty: limited government, free enterprise, individual freedom and traditional American values. …
I still believe the dawn of a new day is rising in Illinois. And I still believe that what you have started over the course of the last year is epic and has already made history in so many ways. And, I am still with you, for Illinois.
Brian O’Connell has the result of the Illinois Senate primary, Michelle Malkin summarized the fall Senate matchup thus: “The culture of ideological and political corruption runs deep in the veins of both parties in Illinois. We head to the general election with no illusions about the mediocre, uninspiring caliber of these two hack candidates… . It’s another hold-your-nose-and-vote race.”
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More Blog Posts by Robert Stacy McCain
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/02/03/illinois-tea-party-revolution
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Democrat Dan Maffei Blames Budget Cuts for Girl’s Rape, Mother’s Murder
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AJsDaddie| 2.3.10 @ 8:00AM
What this shows is that entrenched political machines can't be ousted overnight. I would ask all the pundits decrying Illinois' political landscape to tell us what they did to help. Me and AJ went and voted yesterday (well, I did, and AJ came with because I'm making sure he knows how important it is to vote).
The Brown victory in Massachusetts was a national effort - people from all over the country came to help that campaign, running phone banks, planting signs, the whole nine yards. Here in Illinois we got no such support. We had to try to do it ourselves. And in some smaller places we did - if you review some of the Republican candidates for Congress you'll see Tea Party conservatives like Joe Walsh.
But to try and beat the machine at the statewide level we need help. We need YOUR help. Trust me, none of us conservatives want Mark Kirk, but there simply weren't enough voices from the wilderness to drown out his high-dollar, high-profile campaign.
So, if you want to complain about Illinois' choice of a senator, and you didn't either vote yourself or try to convince someone in Illinois you know to vote for a conservative, then now is the time to make a difference. Start an independent movement for Andrzejewski and start donating.
Make another miracle. It can happen!
Deb| 2.3.10 @ 8:22AM
I too was disappointed in the lack of national support for our primary. I am hit everyday with moneybomb requests for Chuck DeVore, Marco Rubio, etc., yet there was nothing out there for our conservative candidates. I believe we have one of the only early primaries. What was the excuse??
AJsDaddie| 2.3.10 @ 11:01AM
No doubt, Deb. All the big conservative bloggers were all over the Scott Brown election, but that was a special election. The REAL elections are the primaries and we got ZERO, ZILCH, NADA support. And now these same pundits are complaining about Illinois voters.
I hope they come out and help a lot more in 2014. And I hope they pay a lot more attention to the rest of the primaries, especially in the bluer states.
kent| 2.3.10 @ 8:38AM
andy can happen people! work on it. Kirk is our guy now and we need to PUSH him because Andy is in the wings. who says that our great state of ILLINOIS! cant have two GOP senators!!!!
Deb| 2.3.10 @ 8:52AM
Oh, yes! Wouldn't it be lovely to get rid of Dick Durbin?
Indiana Alex| 2.3.10 @ 9:11AM
I'm sorry, but the only thing worse than Illinois Republicans is Illinois Democrats. I still get tears in my eyes remembering the day I escaped across the border with my family.
AJsDaddie| 2.3.10 @ 11:07AM
"The only thing worse than Illinois MACHINE Republicans is Illinois Democrats."
FIFY
Now, can you get rid of Evan Bayh please? And not necessarily with Dan Coats, either.
Charles Martel| 2.3.10 @ 12:49PM
Kirk in Illinois. Castle in Delaware. Yes, they're improvements on their Democrat predecessors or opponents, but they are two of the eight Republican Congressmen who voted for Cap & Tax. Moving them into the Senate was not what I had in mind when I first thought to see them removed from the House.
At moments like this, though, I am reminded of Clemenceau's summation of the French effort in WW1: a series of catastrophes resulting in victory.
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Pingback| 2.3.10 @ 1:47PM
Post-Mortem: CSI Illinois : The Other McCain links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Portland's bicycle master plan | My Oregon – OregonLive.com | Educational Oregon links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Illinois: Tea Party … Tools links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Veritas| 2.4.10 @ 7:33AM
Dilluting core Republican values and sacrificing principles in the name of electoral success is not improving on representation by Democrats. If we staff our halls of governance with left-wing Republicans, we have weakened the party as a whole and made it more difficult for conservative candidates to find traction. If Mark Kirk wins in November, what conservative Republican will have a chance against him in the primaries 6 years from now? On the other hand, if Kirk loses, it opens up the opportunity for a real Republican to challenge the Democrat in the next campaign.
Pingback| 2.7.10 @ 12:18AM
Flakes Mandate Journalist Repair to Alabama : The Other McCain links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Alderman| 2.7.10 @ 9:52AM
Kirk is not the candidate I wanted, but it is imperitive that we elect him in November, just to insure that the crooked banker does not win. Electing Kirk to the Senate will give us momentum to kick Commie Durbin out ewhen he comes up. I will give Kirk 100% support in November.