GOP hopeful Bill Brady would ban gay marriage if elected
Chicago, IL -
Republican candidate for governor State Sen. Kirk Dillard (Hinsdale) is not ready to give up his fight to be governor as he awaits final vote tallies.
As absentee and provisional ballots from this month's primary election are counted by deadline today, Dillard is narrowing the gap with State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington). Dillard remains about four hundred votes behind Brady who has declared himself the winner.
Dillard says he will not concede and his campaign will wait until the February 23 report from the Illinois Board of Elections before determining the next course of action.
Since the Feb. 2 primary, Brady has announced that he would amend the Illinois Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions if he were elected.
In addition to banning gay marriage, the downstate Republican wants to impose term limits, overhaul the process of redrawing legislative districts and make it more difficult to pass state tax increases.
Brady, a social conservative, voted against a 2005 state law banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in matters of housing and employment.
"Brady has supported or co-sponsored every piece of anti-gay legislation there has been in Springfield - from a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to gutting the Illinois Human Rights Act," Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia told ChicagoPride.com last week.
Dillard, who is also opposed to gay marriage and civil unions, has not indicated whether he would push to change the Constitution.
Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn leads both Dillard and Brady in a poll released last week by Victory Research. In the poll, Quinn leads Brady by nearly 11 percentage points. His lead over Dillard is about half that size.
Quinn supports civil unions.
As absentee and provisional ballots from this month's primary election are counted by deadline today, Dillard is narrowing the gap with State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington). Dillard remains about four hundred votes behind Brady who has declared himself the winner.
Dillard says he will not concede and his campaign will wait until the February 23 report from the Illinois Board of Elections before determining the next course of action.
Since the Feb. 2 primary, Brady has announced that he would amend the Illinois Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions if he were elected.
In addition to banning gay marriage, the downstate Republican wants to impose term limits, overhaul the process of redrawing legislative districts and make it more difficult to pass state tax increases.
Brady, a social conservative, voted against a 2005 state law banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in matters of housing and employment.
"Brady has supported or co-sponsored every piece of anti-gay legislation there has been in Springfield - from a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to gutting the Illinois Human Rights Act," Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia told ChicagoPride.com last week.
Dillard, who is also opposed to gay marriage and civil unions, has not indicated whether he would push to change the Constitution.
Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn leads both Dillard and Brady in a poll released last week by Victory Research. In the poll, Quinn leads Brady by nearly 11 percentage points. His lead over Dillard is about half that size.
Quinn supports civil unions.
