 After refusing to throw in the towel Tuesday night – even as Rauner and his camp
declared victory – Quinn later conceded the following afternoon.
However, Executive Director of the State Board of Elections, Rupert Borgsmiller,
said certification of election winners isn’t expected until Nov. 30.
State elections officials know there was slightly more than 346,000 absentee
ballots requested, but that doesn’t take into account those who ditched their
absentee ballot and voted in person at their polling place on Tuesday.
That number also doesn’t include any grace period provisional ballots cast on
election day.
While the race for governor appears to be settled, as of Wednesday, there was a
too-close-to-call state treasurer’s race between Republican Tom Cross and
Democrat Mike Frerichs.
The position has traditionally been a stepping-stone to higher offices for
several politicians over the years. Both candidates are state lawmakers, and
their camps were reported to be closely watching the ballot count even 24 hours
after the polls closed.
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 The Associated Press reported Wednesday that votes were counted
from 99 percent of precincts, showing Cross leading Frerichs by less
than 23,000 votes out of nearly 3.4 million. That translates into
48.2 percent for Cross compared to 47.6 percent for Frerichs.
Libertarian Matthew Skopek took roughly 4 percent of votes.
On Wednesday, Cross’ campaign manager announced on Twitter that
fewer than one-half of one percent of votes still needed to be
counted, but the candidate was not declaring victory.
As for other state offices, such as comptroller, attorney general
and secretary of state, the incumbents were able to hold on to their
seats.
[This
article courtesy of
Watchdog.]
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