| Quinn wins Democratic race for Illinois governor, but GOP contest still too close to call |
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| By Cindy Richards, Special to the Beacon |
| Posted 11:20 am Wed., 2.3.10 |
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Dillard won't concede GOP race for governor. | WLS Durbin wants Dems' candidate for lt. gov. to withdraw. | Chicago Sun-Times Quinn's running mate rebuffs suggestion he should step down. | Chicago Tribune Two days after they ran a tight race for the Illinois nomination for governor, Comptroller Dan Hynes (left) conceded today to incumbent Pat Quinn. Quinn has an 8,100-vote lead over Hynes. The GOP race remains too close to call. | Chicago Tribune Questions arise over domestic battery arrest in 2005 for Dems' nominee for lt. gov. | Chicago Tribune As supporters of Bill Brady hold their breath to see whether he will become the Republican nominee in the 2010 Illinois gubernatorial race, they have a lot of company -- the Democratic Party of Illinois. "If the candidate is Brady, it's a lot better for the Democrats than if it's Dillard," said Charles Wheeler, a long-time observer of state politics who is the director of public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois, Springfield.
"If it's Dillard, the Democrats have got some real problems," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Institute of Politics at Southern Illinois University. "He's a moderate guy who knows government, in the Jim Edgar image." At last count, Brady and Dillard were only a few hundred votes apart. The race is so close that talk of a recount already has surfaced.
While it's not completely clear who will be the gubernatorial contenders -- and it could be weeks or longer before we know for sure -- it's also not at all clear how the race will shake out. That is at least partly because of the very long time between the very early primary (it was moved up in the 2008 primary to give favorite son Barack Obama an early boost in his presidential quest) and the November election. As more than one pundit pointed out, that's enough time to conceive and give birth to a child. In the world of Illinois politics, it's enough time to start and finish a legislative session, to fix or worsen a budget deficit already at $11 billion-plus and to begin and perhaps end the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has vowed to take others down with him. More information
To read the Illinois election law, click here .
Any of those issues could swing the election in unpredictable ways. Consider the Blagojevich corruption trial. "From everything he's done so far, it looks like there will be an attempt by Rod Blagojevich to lash out and harm those people who have dissed him," Wheeler said. "That's great fodder for the Republicans. He'll be ripping the Democrats for stealing the seat from him. But it might be good for the Democrats ... [who can say] 'If Blagojevich doesn't like me, that must mean I'm one of the good guys.' It's going to be interesting street theater for a while." Less entertaining will be the bloodbath over the state budget. "There ought to be a serious revenues discussion this spring, but that conversation is never as to-the-point as it ought to be," said Marj Halperin, a democratic strategist. Yepsen, however, suggested that Quinn might be able to parlay his primary victory into some legislative action. "It gives him more clout with the Legislature. That's currency he can spend. He can go to the Legislature and say, 'We've got to produce something. We've got to turn this around. We've got to show we can produce on ethics and jobs and the economy so we have a record,'" Yepsen said. "That's one of the advantages of this early primary. The Legislature has a couple of months to do something." Cindy Richards is a freelance journalist. To reach her, contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando. |
Brent Jones | St. Louis Beacon
This Saturday was the debut of a new show by The Improv Shop that will bring out of town improv teams to St. Louis to play for — and with — a local audience. The Road Show brought teams "Everybody Grok" and "Felt" from Chicago.
We talked to Eric Christensen, producer of the Road Show and member of local improv team "Ted Dangerous"; Katie Nunn, member of "Ted Dangerous" and improv coach; and Melanie Penn and Ranjan Khan, members of local teams "Melanj" and "Magic Ratio"; about the St. Louis improv scene and why it's important to welcome teams from other cities to perform here.
Health Check: How we got to where we are now (part 1)
This five-part series examines the health care system in the U.S., including how it got started, attempts to reform it over the years and how it compares with systems in use around the world. Read Health Check.
M.W. Guzy fears his daughters' affection for trash TV might have been genetically inherited, as he finds himself drawn to the anybody-but-Mitt show, playing on a loop on cable "news' channels.
Miguel Dulick recounts a trans-Honduras tour that, again, reminded him of the power and joy of keeping siblings and parents connected.
Ken Schechtman says that publicly traded business will not -- perhaps cannot -- put doing the right thing ahead of legally maximizing profits.
In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies, Robert Joiner and Dale Singer sit down to talk about the Missouri primary and redistricting, the controversy around…
Editor Margaret Wolf Freivogel says the problems that froze the Beacon's site in the past are being fixed: Thank you for your patience.
Ben Finegold checks out the women's play at the Tradewise Gilbraltar Chess Congress, particularly the chess played by 17-year-old Hou Yifan of China.
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The Beacon's nationally recognized Barroom Conversations program on race, class and other issues that divide will be held on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at 7:30 PM discussing Education and Class. RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends! We'll pick up where we left off at Six Row Brewing Co., 3690 Forest Park Avenue at Spring. We look forward to seeing you again!

The St. Louis Beacon rang in 2012 with a concert performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved operetta, "The Mikado," at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Higher Education Channel was on hand to record it. Here is a link to the complete perfomance, which we hope you'll enjoy.
The musical direction of "The Mikado" was by Amy Kaiser; Craig Terry was conductor-accompanist. All proceeds from ticket sales benefitted the Beacon.