Brady Refuses to Admit Defeat in Illinois Election

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      By Benjamin Yount    
  Illinois Statehouse News
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  BLOOMINGTON – 11/3/10 - Republican candidate Bill Brady wants to count each vote in Illinois before he gives up his bid to become governor. Even if that takes a month or more.
   One day after Brady again finished within a percentage point of his opponent — this time Democratic governor Pat Quinn – the GOP hopeful from Bloomington said he wants to count each vote and let the process unfold.
   “The people of Illinois have cast over 3.6 million votes in this election," Brady said. "Right now the difference is less than one vote per precinct. We must allow the election authorities to do their job and wait for the official results.”
   The Illinois State Board of Elections has given all counties until Nov. 16 to count those overseas ballots. Because of a delay in sending out some of the ballots, six counties have until Nov. 17. It will then take state officials another few days to certify and finalize the vote total.
    Brady said he’s expecting to wait at least a month.
   “The State Board allows a minimum of 20 days for local officials to certify [the vote total] and a minimum of ten days for them to certify…Realistically we’re think we’re looking at a 30 day process."
    Brady is trailing Quinn by close just over 8,000 votes. There are scattered reports of some precincts that have yet to count their ballots and there is much talk about overseas and military ballots. But it is unclear if there are enough uncounted votes for Brady to overtake Quinn. 
    Brady said from what he’s been told, there may be.
    “We believe…based on what we’ve been given [that] we will win. And it’s important that we let [the review] process take place. We are certainly going to respect Governor Quinn, and I’m sure that he wants the same process to take place. 
    The Quinn campaign said in a written statement that the governor also wants every vote counted.
   “The ballots left to be counted appear mostly to come from Cook County, where the governor held a large margin over Sen. Brady.” said Mica Matsoff, campaign spokeswoman. “We expect to hold our lead and increase it. We do not see a path to victory for Bill Brady.”
    Close races and counting all of the ballots is becoming a habit for Brady. He barely won the Republican primary in February, edging out GOP State Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale by less than 200 votes. Brady also won a recount in one of his first races back in 1992. 
   Quinn also had a squeaker in the February primary. But his opponent, Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes, conceded rather than push for a lengthy review and vote count.
   Story courtesy of Illinois Statehouse News.