Dillard, Brady Will Wait At Least One More Week

The deadline for local elections officials to finalize their primary results is now passed. But the outcome of the Republican race for governor remains unsettled, and it may be another week before there's a clear winner.

By now, elections authorities should have all of their absentee and provisional ballots counted. With those totals factored in, Hinsdale Senator Kirk Dillard could clear the 400 vote difference by which he's trailing Bloomington Senator Bill Brady. Dillard admits his chances aren't good. But he says he'll wait until all local tallies are submitted to the state elections board on February 23rd.

"I'd rather be in Senator Brady's position than myself," Dillard said. "But you need to make sure that all the local election authorities, there's 110 of them, have double checked their mathematics. One small error and the race flip flops."

Dillard says the limbo is torture. Brady, meanwhile, says he's confident he'll hold on to victory. "Our experts have told us that you can rest assured that that will hold, in the era of electronic balloting," Brady said. "It's not chad ballot voting anymore."

But Brady says he understands Dillard's desire not to concede given the slim margins.

Dillard says it's too early to consider if he'd request a recount.