{"id":358342,"date":"2010-02-24T10:22:45","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T15:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c60fd53ef01310f348b83970c"},"modified":"2010-02-24T10:22:45","modified_gmt":"2010-02-24T15:22:45","slug":"dillard-aids-brady-admits-hopes-slim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/358342","title":{"rendered":"Dillard aids Brady, admits hopes slim"},"content":{"rendered":"

From today’s print edition<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Dillard aids Brady, admits hopes slim<\/h2>\n

Trailing in GOP governor race, he awaits vote totals<\/h3>\n

By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter<\/p>\n

Even as state Sen. Kirk Dillard still hopes a counting error will cut
\ninto state Sen. Bill Brady’s slim lead in the Republican governor’s
\ncontest, he’s already helping his rival prepare for the general
\nelection campaign against Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"Other than Bill, no one wants this over faster than I do," said
\nDillard, a veteran lawmaker from Hinsdale. "I want to get on with my
\nlife."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nDillard’s comments came Tuesday as county clerks and election officials
\nrepresenting the 110 ballot-counting agencies across Illinois sent the
\nfindings of their canvass of Feb. 2 primary results to the State Board
\nof Elections. The elections panel is scheduled to certify the results
\nMarch 5.\n<\/p>\n

But Dillard indicated he might not wait that long to decide the fate of
\nhis campaign for governor. Trailing Brady by about 250 votes, Dillard
\nhas set a bar of finishing 100 votes or fewer behind his rival as the
\ntrigger for a recount.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\n"I’d prefer to say up or down before" March 5, Dillard said, adding
\nthat he wants to hear a final figure issued from a state elections
\nofficial.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nDillard acknowledged his hopes are slim at this point. After talking to
\nvarious local election officials, Dillard said he has "no hint of
\nfraud, no hint of improprieties" in the results.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nAnd Dillard said he doesn’t want a recount, a process that could cost
\nhim more than $1 million to conduct on a statewide basis and
\npotentially delay the start of the Republican campaign against Quinn,
\nwhose Democratic ticket remains unsettled by the flap that led to his
\nembattled running mate, Scott Lee Cohen, dropping from the ballot.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nThe senator said his best hope is that a "small scrivener’s error"
\ncould change the outcome of a statewide election involving more than
\nthree-quarters of a million ballots. "One little error changes
\neverything," he said.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBrady, a senator from Bloomington, and Dillard have remained cordial
\nduring the three weeks of ballot-counting, a rare dose of civility in
\nIllinois politics. Brady has not declared victory but has instead
\ninsisted Dillard be given time to digest the numbers and allow the
\ncertification process to proceed.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nBehind the scenes, the two men have had several conversations during
\nthe weeks of electoral limbo, sources close to both candidates said,
\nwith Dillard offering ideas on ways to help Brady, including in the
\nGOP-rich collar counties. One source close to both men, who was not
\nauthorized to speak for either campaign, termed the talks "what-if"
\nconversations, based on "what the outcome appears to be."
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nShould Brady become the nominee, Dillard, a former DuPage County
\nRepublican chairman, could become a valuable resource in helping the
\ncentral Illinois lawmaker make inroads with suburban GOP voters. In the
\nprimary, Brady’s support in the collar counties ranged from 5.6 percent
\nin DuPage County to 8.5 percent in McHenry County, according to local
\nelection totals.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nA Brady victory also sets the stage for an ideologically driven
\nshowdown between the conservative Republican and Quinn, who has long
\ntouted his progressive idealism on issues ranging from taxes to health
\ncare. It would mark the first gubernatorial election in decades in
\nwhich voters would choose from two major party candidates at such
\nopposite ends of the political spectrum.
<\/br>
\n
<\/br>
\nrap30@aol.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From today’s print edition: Dillard aids Brady, admits hopes slim Trailing in GOP governor race, he awaits vote totals By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter Even as state Sen. Kirk Dillard still hopes a counting error will cut into state Sen. Bill Brady’s slim lead in the Republican governor’s contest, he’s already helping his rival prepare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3992,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}