AP: Illinois Gov. Quinn Narrowly Defeats GOP Opponent

Democratic Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has narrowly defeated his Republican challenger, according to the Associated Press.

An AP analysis of uncounted votes from absentee and other ballots shows state Sen. Bill Brady will not be able to overcome the just more than 19,400-vote lead Quinn holds with 100 percent of precincts reporting Thursday.

Brady has said he will not concede until all votes are counted, including absentee ballots from military members serving outside Illinois. Brady said his campaign's collecting and evaluating data, and will wait until all votes are counted before deciding its next step.

"There could be mistakes, there could be other issues, there could be military ballots, there could be absentee ballots that haven't yet been counted," Brady said.

Brady estimates it will be a month before all that is sorted out, but even some of his fellow Republicans, like Senator Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, say Brady's chances of catching up with Quinn are slim.

"Barring fraud, 19 thousand votes, because of the new technology, is a pretty big hurdle," he said.

Dillard lost the GOP primary to Brady by less than 200 votes. Dillard said if he had been the nominee, he would have won the general election. Quinn's campaign said the governor's lead is "decisive" and that it is time to return focus to state issues.

Quinn inherited the governor's mansion nearly two years ago when lawmakers ousted Rod Blagojevich after his arrest on federal corruption charges. He campaigned on a proposal to raise the state income tax by one-third as Illinois struggles with a deficit that could top $15 billion. The Quinn campaign released a statement saying the voters have spoken and "the outcome is decisive."

State officials have until Dec. 3 to certify all results.

(Photo courtesy of Elmhurst College/flickr)