IL-02 special election thread

[Badger]

That's kind of bizzare to resign shortly after winning reelection, before your next term even began.

It's not at all unusual in IL. If a resignation is likely (as it was here) then the organization benefits by waiting until after the election. There is always the risk of an unknown winning if the seat opens up or appears to effectively open before the general (see for example the indicted Rostenkowski in 1994). With a special election organizations can better get their voters to turnout for the replacement. For lower offices in IL there is no special election and by waiting until after the election the party in power has the ability to appoint a successor until the next election.

I don't know about this, but it's clear Lipinski's father resigned after the primary just so the machine could pick his son. Someone really needs to primary Lipinski.

It's been tried and failed multiple times now.

[Badger]

For all you numbers junkies:
5 numbers --first is Chicago, 2nd is Suburban Cook, 3rd is Will, 4th is Kankakee, and 5th is total vote

Dem
Robin Kelly               9,900     18,430    1,214      1,255     30,799
Clifford J. Eagleton        38           132         19            15          204
Toi W. Hutchinson       273           877           -           362       1,512  (No total given for Will)
Anthony A. Beale     3,470        2,634       139         151       6,394
Mel Reynolds               176           239          15           24          454
Victor Jonathan             10              65           0            16             91
Gregory Haynes            34              95           5              8           142
Charles Rayburn           21              47            0             6              74
John Blyth                      16             74            4            10          104
Earnest B. Fenton       376         1,093         36           32        1,537
Anthony W. Williams   164            361         96           24           645
Fatimah Muhammed      89            111           4             6            210
Larry D. Pickens            60              60           2            14           136
Debbie Halvorsen     1,602        6,113    2,911      3,999    14,625
O. Patrick Brutus           16              35           0             4              55
Joyce Washington        987        1,403         74            98       2,562
Write-In                           -                  -            1             5               6


GOP front runner Paul McKinley is  already a convicted felon and given the history of people who have held this seat, he has a leg up on the competition.

Ill_Ind
         

Wow. Kelly won with the suburban Cook protion of the seat alone. Earned an outright majority of the vote in a 1000 candidate primary, and beat Halvorson by over 2-1.

With numbers THAT impressive, I doubt we can blame a single superpac donation in making the difference (or even close).

Good to see that scuzbag Mel Reynolds was utterly humiliated, even compared to the other fringe candidates.