Pat Quinn Projected as Winner of Illinois Governor Race

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn celebrates after being sworn in and the official documents signed as Governor of Illinois after the removal of the impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich by the Senate at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009.

/ AP PHOTO

The Associated Press has estimated that Democrat Pat Quinn has won a narrow victory over Republican Bill Brady in the Illinois governor's race.

CBS News has not yet projected a winner in the race. With all precincts reporting, Quinn holds a lead of 1,721,812 votes to 1,702,399 over Brady. That's a difference of less than 20,000 votes out of more than 3.4 million cast.

The AP says its analysis of uncounted absentee and other ballots showed that Brady cannot close the gap.

Quinn has claimed victory, stating that "the people of Illinois know I won the election." Brady is refusing to concede until all votes are counted.

"Votes need to be counted, there are good votes, and we're going to deal with all the data that's there and we'll then deal with the decision-making process as we gather data," he said according to the AP.

Quinn rose from lieutenant governor to governor when former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was ousted following his arrest on corruption charges. His victory would be a boost to Democrats in a tough midterm election year that saw President Obama's old Senate seat in Illinois go to Republican Mark Kirk.

CBS News Election Center

Governor's Races

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Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[erobby]

Why is there so much hate about Quinn winning? Please people get real, this country is in bad shape and it's not doing anything but getting worse.

People should vote for things that effects them and look for politicians that are willing to deal with the issues that concern them.

As far as California, well what I will say on a level of stupidity how dumb do you have to be when you allow someone from another country take over? I mean if you think illegals are taking your jobs, then I ask how bad are your interviewing skills if your competition is someone that can't speak the language? And they get the job.

[tlv48]

Those who are amazed only need to understand Chicago, err, Illinois politics. This loser was in no way shape or form elected by the citizens of Illinois. He was pure and simply elected by the Chicago voters. Two districts near St. Louis gave him a marginal majority. (both by less than 2,000 votes). In Chicago, he won by a landslide. The rest of the state was a landslide for Brady. Unfortunately, Chicago has a larger voting base than the rest of our state. Once again, we are saddled with a Chicago loser when the rest of the state was a landslide for his opponent! Great system!

[wachoosay]

Both candidates won extremely close primaries in March. Quinn won with 50.3% of the vote, while Brady won a 5-way contest with 20.3% on the Republican side. So, roughly 80% of the Republicans who voted in March favored someone else. Like many other places in the country, suburban voters can easily determine the outcomes of elections. Illinois is no different. Brady needed to do better in suburban Cook County (he didn't), while Quinn needed to do just enough in the collar counties to hang on (which he did). By and large, Illinois Republicans tend to be moderates, and Bill Brady is more to the right of them. He made a comment in August that he thought the minimum wage in the state (8.25 and hour) was too high and should have been set at the federal standard of 7.25. A millionaire saying the poorest people in the state were making too much money didn't resonate well with some folks, including me. I live in a rural area downstate, and I voted for Quinn. He may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but his stock and trade is based on consumer advocacy and honesty. Exit poll data from both parties indicate that voters did not tie him closely with former disgraced Governor Blagojevich.

[Tojose59]

I was amazed that Quin was even close, much less won. He is not popular at all and in this election a Republican actually won Obama's Senate seat. If this were any state other then Illinois... the most corrupt state in the union... it wouldn't make any sense at all.

[talkwjon]

I don't know anything about him but I hope he wins just for his commericals alone. best commericals of the election season!

[ClipperMiami]

Have some patience, it takes time to create some more new votes in Cook County.