 The race was too close to call on election night, but Quinn's lead had mounted to about 19,400 votes on Thursday.Public opinion polls and political observers had predicted a Brady victory going into Election Day, and the loss left
him wondering what went wrong.
"We'll leave it to the pundits to decide what happened," he said. "We remained loyal and consistent to our message, and we'll continue to do that. So, I really don't have an answer for you."
Brady, running mate Jason Plummer and their families gathered at a Bloomington hotel Friday afternoon for a short press conference to announce the concession.
The Bloomington state senator said he had called Quinn to congratulate him, and hoped the governor and the Democratic-controlled legislature would heed the message of the close election.
"The people of Illinois are speaking," Brady said. "It's time to come together in a bipartisan way to put our partisan differences aside and focus on the people of Illinois' interests."
Quinn later held a press conference to formally accept Brady's concession, although he had already claimed victory on Thursday during an appearance at Manny's Deli in Chicago.
He repeated his invitation from the day before to meet Brady for lunch at the
South Side eatery.
"We can sit down and have lunch and work together for the common good of Illinois," Quinn said. "We may have differences
-- strong differences -- on policy issues, but we're all Americans and all Illinoisans."
U.S. Senate victor Republican Mark Kirk and defeated Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias on Wednesday shared a beer at the city's famed Billy Goat Tavern in an effort to put the bitter campaign behind them.
Earlier this year Brady was the surprise winner over state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale,
n the Republican primary, which took several days to determine Brady's 193-vote victory. But his luck in the primary did not carry over into the general election.
Although Brady was calm during his concession speech, Plummer
almost broke into tears when thanking staff and supporters.
"It's been an honor," Plummer said. "The support has been
humbling. I look forward to working with you all a lot more."
Brady ran on a platform of a 10 percent across-the-board cut to state government and placing the Illinois State Board of Education under the governor's control. Quinn earlier this year introduced and continues to push for a one percentage point
-- or 33 percent -- increase in the state's income tax to fund education.
Political observers have wondered about the viability of either fiscal option, as the state grapples with a $13 billion budget deficit some predict to increase to $15 billion next year.
[to top of second column] |
 Quinn rose from lieutenant governor to the state's top office after Illinois lawmakers impeached and ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich on the heels of his arrest on federal corruption charges. Blagojevich was convicted this summer on one count but faces a retrial in the new year.
The so-called accidental governor appeared humble when claiming his official victory.
"I am greatly honored to hold the office of governor, and now to be elected governor is a tremendous privilege," Quinn said.
Brady has run as a GOP candidate for governor before but never made it out of the primary. However, the long, bitter campaign for the state's top office apparently hasn't dampened his desire for the governorship
-- although his wife, Nancy, seemed to disagree.
"Life's too short to rule anything out," Brady said at the same time Nancy said, "We're not going to answer that question right now."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MARY MASSINGALE and BILL McMORRIS]
 |
