In Illinois governor's race, Republican victory came behind enemy lines
Republican Bruce Rauners victory over Democratic Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday was a classic case of taking the fight into enemy territory in this case, into the wards of Chicago and the precincts of the Metro East.
It was in those traditional Democratic strongholds that Rauner, 57, a wealthy businessman with no previous elective experience, was able to pull dramatically higher percentages of votes away from Quinn than the GOP had been able to garner during Quinns first gubernatorial election four years ago.
Quinn finally gave up the ghost of this years election Wednesday afternoon, conceding his defeat some 17 hours after it had been declared by the media and embraced by Rauner.
Quinn had initially argued that his more-than-160,000-vote deficit in almost-complete returns wasnt the last word because some votes were still out. His ultimate concession came not in front of the throngs of supporters at his campaign gathering Tuesday night as by tradition, but in a brief news conference with reporters in Chicago the next afternoon.
Its clear that we do not have enough votes to win the election, Quinn said. Therefore we respect the result. I look forward to working with the new administration. After a few more comments, he left the podium without taking questions.
If Quinn was shocked at the election outcome, many around the country were as well, if only because President Barack Obamas home state is so famously Democratic. And in fact, it generally remained so on Tuesday, with Democrats holding their veto-proof majorities in the state House and Senate.
Rauner acknowledged as much in his victory speech late Tuesday. The voters have chosen to have divided government ... to find solutions bipartisan solutions to solve the problems of Illinois.
Rauners win relied on a deep-pockets campaign that touted traditional Republican themes of fiscal responsibility and lower taxes, while eschewing the conservative social-issue agendas that, in Illinois, tend to turn off even Republicans.
[Rauner] did exactly what he had to do, said political scientist Brian Gaines of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He had to break 20 percent in Chicago and not lose downstate, and he did both those things. And he didnt play the social issues.
While committing what Gaines called some rookie mistakes, such as taking several conflicting positions on the minimum wage early in the campaign, Rauners moderate-conservative positioning and virtually unlimited bankroll won out. Quinn was ripe for the picking ... and [Rauner] could guarantee he wasnt going to be outspent.
Go here to see the original:
In Illinois governor's race, Republican victory came behind enemy lines