Quinn narrowly defeats Brady with help of gay vote
Thu. November 4, 2010 3:53 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
LGBT community credited with giving Quinn the edge in Chicago
Chicago, IL -
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has narrowly defeated his Republican challenger State Sen. Bill Brady.
The Associated Press and NBC News called the race for Quinn this afternoon. Fox News called Quinn the apparent winner yesterday.
An Associated Press analysis of uncounted votes from absentee and other ballots shows Brady won't be able to overcome the more than 19,500-vote lead Quinn holds with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
Quinn told the media he was "elated" during a media appearance this afternoon. Brady continues to hold out hope and refuses to concede. The Republican Governors Association, which spent nearly $8 million on Brady's campaign, is reportedly a major factor in Brady's decision not to concede.
A majority of the uncounted absentee ballots are in Chicago and Cook County where Quinn bested Brady, a social conservative from downstate Bloomington.
Equality Illinois Education Project, which distributed 450,000 absentee ballot applications, is claiming a victory with their eye-catching and non-political Vote Naked Illinois campaign, an effort in coalition with Roosevelt University and Rock the Vote.
The gay rights group says their get-out-the-vote campaign was effective in helping Quinn, who was endorsed by EQIL PAC.
"Vote Naked generated an unprecidented interest in this election and we are confident that it had significant impact on this race," Equality Illinois public policy director Rick Garcia told ChicagoPride.com.
"I am so proud that Equality Illinois was able to play the key role in re-electing Governor Quinn," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "We amassed an aggressive get-out-the-vote effort, energizing thousands of voters."
Throughout the campaign, gay rights advocates hammered Brady for his anti-gay stance, which included support for an amendment to the Illinois constitution banning equal marriage rights for LGBT citizens.
The Illinois Board of Elections has until Dec. 3 to officially certify the election.
The Associated Press and NBC News called the race for Quinn this afternoon. Fox News called Quinn the apparent winner yesterday.
An Associated Press analysis of uncounted votes from absentee and other ballots shows Brady won't be able to overcome the more than 19,500-vote lead Quinn holds with 100 percent of precincts reporting.
Quinn told the media he was "elated" during a media appearance this afternoon. Brady continues to hold out hope and refuses to concede. The Republican Governors Association, which spent nearly $8 million on Brady's campaign, is reportedly a major factor in Brady's decision not to concede.
A majority of the uncounted absentee ballots are in Chicago and Cook County where Quinn bested Brady, a social conservative from downstate Bloomington.
Equality Illinois Education Project, which distributed 450,000 absentee ballot applications, is claiming a victory with their eye-catching and non-political Vote Naked Illinois campaign, an effort in coalition with Roosevelt University and Rock the Vote.
The gay rights group says their get-out-the-vote campaign was effective in helping Quinn, who was endorsed by EQIL PAC.
"Vote Naked generated an unprecidented interest in this election and we are confident that it had significant impact on this race," Equality Illinois public policy director Rick Garcia told ChicagoPride.com.
"I am so proud that Equality Illinois was able to play the key role in re-electing Governor Quinn," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "We amassed an aggressive get-out-the-vote effort, energizing thousands of voters."
Throughout the campaign, gay rights advocates hammered Brady for his anti-gay stance, which included support for an amendment to the Illinois constitution banning equal marriage rights for LGBT citizens.
The Illinois Board of Elections has until Dec. 3 to officially certify the election.