IL GOPers Face Wide-Open GOV Primary
IL Gov. Pat Quinn's (D) battle against challenger IL Comp. Dan Hynes (D) has gotten all the attention, but voters will also pick a winner in the wide-open GOP GOV race.
In a large field of 7 candidates, anyone could pull off a victory tomorrow. Newspaper endorsements have been mixed, the money race is a muddle and the establishment GOP has not coalesced around a single person.
For most of '09 the frontrunner was '02 nominee/ex-AG Jim Ryan (R), but his lackluster fundraising and lackadaisical campaign style has caused his numbers to slowly drop, and his momentum is nil.
'04 SEN candidate/businessman/ex-IL GOP chair Andy McKenna's (R) been advertising heavily and his numbers look like the only steady thing about this race. But he's being chased by a state GOP polling scandal. As party chair, he used state party funds for an internal poll that included his own name. An internal GOP investigation found that McKenna "compounded one ethical misstep with another." McKenna has since apologized, but hasn't shown up to debates to defend himself.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R), who may be considered the only moderate in the race, was given a rather inadvertent blow by Pres. Obama, who called him a "poor guy" at the 1/29 House GOP Conference. Dillard's been attacked by his fellow GOPers in debates and on TV for appearing in an ad for Obama during the '08 election.
Meanwhile, Tea Partier/businessman Adam Andrzejewski (R) is surging late. Nobel Peace Prize Winner/ex-Polish Pres. Lech Walesa held an attention-grabbing fundraiser/rally for him on 1/29, and now Rush Limbaugh has waded into the race, calling Andrzejewski "the Scott Brown of Illinois" on his radio show this afternoon.
With about 24 hours to go until polls close, the race is a toss-up, and if turn-out is as low as expected (the IL election board thinks it will top out at 28%), anyone can pull out a victory. Andrzejewski's camp thinks 22 percent of the field wins the race, meaning 150K to 200K votes is good enough for the nomination.
@fancy
You sound like a Andy McKenna fan... I have no idea what a BBW or a BBM is but if McKenna wins, this state is SOL
Adam Andrzjewski is getting my vote!
Dillard only win who can win in Novermber
Adam Andrzjewski is my man too!!
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