 The GOP gubernatorial hopeful said on Thursday that he wants to
count all of the votes and still wants to wait up to 30 days for
local and state election authorities to certify that vote."We're
still collecting data. We're still waiting for results to come in.
There are a number of votes that yet have to be counted -- military,
absentee and others. Our campaign is looking at data and evaluating
that data right now," Brady said.
But there is a growing sense that even after all of the ballots
are counted, Brady will continue to trail Gov. Pat Quinn. The latest
tally has Brady behind the governor by 19,400 votes. The GOP
candidate said he thinks he will pick up some votes but would not
say how many.
Quinn said in Chicago that he doesn't need a formal concession to
celebrate his victory.
"I think the people of Illinois know who won the election," said
Quinn.
Brady said he's not going to bow to the pressure to end his vote
count, no matter who is asking.
"Gov. Quinn has a right to his opinion. But we're going to
evaluate what is best for the state of Illinois and what's proper
for this election," he said.
The vote count could take a month -- 20 days for local election
offices to certify their ballots and another 10 for the Illinois
State Board, but on Thursday Brady would only say that he doesn't
expect to change that timeline.
Ron Michaelson, former director of the Illinois State Board of
Elections and a professor at the University of Illinois at
Springfield, said Brady is doing what he has to do as a candidate,
even though he faces an uphill climb.
"One thing that has to be a consideration for the Brady campaign
is that there may be a large mistake in a local vote count. That
happens," said Michaelson "But (winning) looks like a much tougher
hill to climb than late on Tuesday night."
[to top of second column] |
Michaelson added that Brady is now trying to sound some of the
right notes after a long, hard-fought campaign.
"Some of this has more to do with how Brady will be remembered
than it does with winning the election," said Michaelson.
Brady's comments came as lawmakers returned to Springfield for a
one-day session, ostensibly to vote on a pension borrowing plan.
Lawmakers never voted; instead they talked about the election
results and congratulated each other for winning. Candidates who did
not fare well on Election Day were in short supply in Springfield on
Thursday.
The General Assembly is not due back to the state Capitol until
Nov. 16 for the annual fall veto session.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
 |
