I have 2…
1. That Dems/republicans rallied together for some great wins that will really help labor and hopefully get a clear message to our governor. We will not put up with his crap no matter how much money he wants to spend to make a point.
2. That Don Gray can’t count.
That’s a credit to those understanding the McCann win importance. The fact that McCann was able to be competitive is/was a surprised, given the ads and revelations, but McCann was not just competitive, but won despite continued flaws.
My biggest surprise was the county running out of ballots at the polling places. I would be furious as a candidate in a close race. Could they have used absentee ballots as substitutes?
Also THANK YOU MR. MILLER FOR YOUR LATE NIGHT UPDATES. I mean this sincerely.
1 - margin of victories. I expected Stratton, Fox, Castro to all win, but they all won BIG. Mitchell’s victory was bigger than expected. Even McCann’s 5% victory was probably bigger than I expected.
McCann winning b/c TVs down here were swamped with negative ads against him, saying he lied about being a marine. Very nasty and came on every commercial break. Never saw one pro-McCann or anti-Benton ad.
- Gordon Willis - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
I think Theresa Mah’s victory was the biggest surprise. She will be the first person of Asian descent to serve in the General Assembly (I think), which is a pretty big deal.
Surprised by the momentum this (seems) to generate for Madigan (and the American public he controls).
I suspect Rauner will spin this as a “win” and “proof” that the Turnaround Agenda is desperately needed. And I suspect will shift into overdrive vindictiveness.
I was surprised that Sam McCann lost Sangamon County, but that may be due to new Trump voters who only knew him by ads.
I was also surprised his race wasn’t closer. Happy to see Benton / Rauner defeated though.
I didn’t expect Bourne to put away Scobbie so easily. I’d heard a lot of hand wringing over that race. She’s going to have her hands full with Mathis though.
I’m surprised that, it seems, Ds that pulled an R ballot to vote for McCann also voted for Jiminez. Wasted opportunity if you’re trying to send a message.
Like so many, McCann-Wow I didn’t think he could hold on with all the negatives and absolutely the large margin Stratton won by, I thought it was going to be close. Kudos to the voters in the 5th, I think their awareness of what was really going on was underestimated. Labor needs to stay on its game, it ain’t over.
Biggest visual surprise–the image of Dunkin at the microphone with ZERO people in the frame, the beautiful buffet of food untouched. His life just got very lonely, but has been caused by his own foolishness. Too bad, so sad.
Biggest disappointing surprise– the running out of ballots which prevented some voters from exercising their precious American right to participate in democracy.
This situation is completely bizarre and unacceptable, regardless of the execuses beng offered.
Biggest surprise: the margin of McCann’s win; very strong (+10%) outside Sangamon County. Hoped for it but wasn’t that sure about it; parts of his old district and union support carried the day.
Smaller surprise: Slim margin for Hillary over Bernie; it should have been a cake walk for her but I suspect a lot of first time voters went for Bernie.
Also the failure in several counties to have enough ballots. That indicates a failure to prepare for same day registration. Sangamon County and Adams County and I don’t know where else.
I was pleasantly surprised that McCann won and Dunkin lost. It gives me a slight hope that some sort of adult conversation can begin between the leaders to solve this budget impasse. I hope it gives republican members of the General Assembly the courage to think for themselves, and offer solutions that are detached from the Governor. I don’t have high hopes for this, but I feel as if more things may be possible today than they were on Monday.
Sangamon County ballot problems. I know turnout was higher than expected, but it wasn’t THAT high to cause so many problems. I’ve heard numerous stories of people not being able to vote at all.
= Ds that pulled an R ballot to vote for McCann also voted for Jiminez =
They were going to vote for Trump’s guy? SWJ also had union bugs on her door tags.
I likewise thought Dunkin would be closer, and the margin of McCann’s victory was a surprise. I thought a Benton victory would have been by this margin whereas a McCann win would be very narrow. Caught me there.
I’d say the Mah victory over Acevado was somewhat surprising, too.
1. Benton winning Sangamon County by maybe 1% but Jimenez winning by almost 30% makes no sense. Tony DelGiornio (sp?) is a good enough candidate to make this a race. Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances to hold the seat? Labor and state workers inadvertently made that a tougher seat to play in. That also strikes me as an inconsistent vote, but whatever.
2. I thought Dennis Scobbie might have a better showing. He got trounced. I have a feeling that the Bourne-Mathis race could be the closest (and perhaps the most expensive) general election race.
3. HRC winning Illinois was interesting. I for sure thought Bernie would pull it off. It looks like the Presidential race is set. Trump vs. Hillary…bleck!
1 - The failure to defeat McCann considering the negativity of the campaign against him.
2 - The margin of the loss by Dunkin considering the amount of money backing him.
- PublicServant - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
I’m surprised we haven’t seen reports of a TV repairman arriving at the governor’s mansion to replace a TV with a shoe embedded in it.
===But labor needs to remember and follow through in November.===
Agreed.
To paraphrase…
“Labor? You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up… 15 minutes. Then get your tails back in gear.”
I’ll say, with no reservation, Labor showed me a lot last night, and for that, for last night, I was so very impressed.
- Decaff Coffee Party - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:53 am:
Sangamon County not going to a BYOB (Bring Your Own Ballot) program. Would have saved even more money than merely skimping on printing ballots.
While it was inconvenient for those that had to wait, the turnout was surprisingly good even despite the perfect storm of races on both sides that produced the turnout.
- lake county democrat - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:54 am:
McCann and Brad Schneider. It felt like Rottering had the momentum and in an election year where Dems are tilting left, that made sense. Not sure if Schneider won because of positions or just name recognition.
== Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances to hold the seat? ==
That’s what I did; tried to vote against all the Rauner connected candidates. Think maybe that race got lost in the weeds with all the focus here on McCann / Benton.
I was surprised that Clinton went ahead and swept the five states which means Bernie is getting pretty close to toast.
Also, the level of the Rauner slap down surprised me. There’s pretty much no way he can say his Turnaround Agenda resonates with voters. He lost everywhere he went all in. I hope this means either he will be more reasonable (doubtful) or his own party’s legislators will begin to act in a more independent manner (jury is out on that now).
Besides the margins of some of the wins Mell losing was a huge surprise. I thought Acevedo would win. Did Shirley Madigan and the other Clinton delegates lose in the 3rd congressional?
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:57 am:
The McCann and Stratton victories. Hillary winning four of five (and possibly five of five) states–especially in the Rust Belt. Ohio really surprised me in how well she performed there. Illinois didn’t surprise me. An exit poll showed Clinton losing to Sanders in Illinois.
- From the 'Dale to HP - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:58 am:
Not enough ballots. Need to be MUCH better prepared for the General in the Fall. Also, just a wonderment, could trying to be frugal at the local level have contributed to not enough on hand ballots? The same day registration is going to be more of a pressure point for some areas. They need to be prepared for this!
Wasn’t surprised, but worth noting that the House GOP did not run any positive Reggie Phillips ads. Just depended on Proft to run negative ads against Kaye.
No coordination, I’m sure.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Dorothy Brown does not shock me. I guess if I have to be “surprised” about something… Trump did not win my county. What a relief. I was starting to think bad thoughts about some of my townsfolk.
A canditate running in the largest district geographically in the state. I did not here one word from Byrce Benton until it was over last night, why? Isn’t that surprising?
- Time to go to work - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:01 am:
Really hope these results bring Republicans and Rauner back to the table. If the Dem’s are smart they will find a way to give Rauner a small victory and strike a deal. Our social services and Universities are literally dying. Everyone needs to read Mark Browns Column today. He hits the nail on the head:
Ride - sorry to burst your bubble, but Bryce did get out and campaign in the rest of the district. If you followed him on social media, then you would know that he did make the rounds.
To be fair, there are events that candidates should not attend (i.e. a county planning commission meeting). That is where the incumbent will always have the upper hand.
I also wasn’t surprised Dorothy Brown won, but amazed at the margins in that race. Meister was clearly the better candidate and came in a distant third. He never had a chance, which speaks volumes about the corruption and forgiving attitude of corruption and incompetence in Cook County. No wonder our government is so messed up, we the voters allow it to happen. It’s our own fault.
===Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances===
People just don’t vote that way. He never laid a glove on her and she ran a positive campaign. She’s extremely likeable and still probably known from her TV days. I voted for her.
At 5:55 or so, Mark Suppelsa from WGN noted that their staff at the Anita Alvarez event saw no TVs to monitor results, no signs, and no balloons or other celebratory items in the wings.
What surprises me is that she knew from jump she would lose…badly.
–At 5:55 or so, Mark Suppelsa from WGN noted that their staff at the Anita Alvarez event saw no TVs to monitor results…–
She has problems with video.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:11 am:
Except for Dunkin, everything went about the way I thought it would. I am not surprised that the apparent presidential match up is two NYC center-left candidates, if you strip away all the bombast and bluster and go on history.
Read through the online version of the Chi Trib this morning. Big stories on Trump, Clinton, Dunkin, Madigan, Duckworth, Kirk. No obvious mention of McCann/Benton any where.
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:18 am:
The size of the margins for Foxx, Stratton and Van Pelt. Also, Dick Mell and Joe Moreno, whether they pull it out or not.
- Matthew Vernau - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:20 am:
Team Sleep at 8:51
The victories of Jimenez and Bourne may not be that hard to understand. Smart, cute girls are hard to beat. In the case of Jimenez a voter had to willingly select a none to bright Trump supporter. We can hope in the interim that both Jimenez and Bourne will act a bit more independently. Time for a budget not time to rearrange deck chairs.
==Biggest visual surprise–the image of Dunkin at the microphone with ZERO people in the frame, the beautiful buffet of food untouched. His life just got very lonely, but has been caused by his own foolishness.==
I missed this! Any video or photo? I need to partake in schadenfreude.
1) The margins of the Stratton and Foxx races. I was certain I’d lose at least another hour of sleep waiting for the results in those races, but instead I was able to hit the hay even earlier than usual last night.
2) The poor showing by the presidential candidates backed by the traditional Illinois Republican establishment. The combined votes of Ron Sandack’s candidate (Kasich, 20%) and the Tribune’s candidate (Rubio, 9%) fell below Cruz’s vote (31%) and was a full ten points short of Trump’s total (39%).
Viewed through that lens, Rauner looks more like an early symptom of the IL-GOP’s identity crisis, rather than a cause.
3) News organizations that refuse to understand that presidential primaries are about DELEGATES won, not STATES won.
It’s a simple and irrefutable fact, but it must be really bad for ratings.
I thought given the $$ Rauner tossed into the fray, the $$ given to Dan Proft’s PAC, the bravado chest thumping Proft was doing on the radio, the 8 clearly political news rags distributed around the state, the negative video ad’s, and the crap coming out of the Illinois News Network, Rauner and company got govno.
“Viewed through that lens, Rauner looks more like an early symptom of the IL-GOP’s identity crisis, rather than a cause.”
That’s fascinating.
Surprise? August Deuser winning the 1st Congresional District Republican primary. Unknown, old-school, retired teacher, no money, just knocking on doors for months.
- Huff and Puff - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:50 am:
Biggest surprise- that political observers, even up to yesterday, still held on to the notion that Rauner’s money and political team is competent or productive.
Newsflash “Superstars”: You won in 2014 because of disaffection with Quinn, not because of your politcal savvy or any groundswell of support for your agenda.
Sheesh, imagine what could be accomplished if the unions had the kind of political pocket change that these billionaires have.
Dorothy Brown winning. Yes, her race was buried under others of more note and two challengers probably split the vote. But still…she had a lot of baggage and negatives coming into the race.
Biggest surprise has to be that Rich Miller just admitted to pulling an R ballot.
- Behind the Scenes - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:25 am:
Surprised that many precincts ran out of ballots. Clearly, no one expected that large of a vote anywhere.
Thought McCann would win Sangamon County over Benton despite gigantic LPP TV buys and mailers against him (and a piddling amount of TV and mail by LPP for Benton). And, Benton was pretty invisible in Sangamon County in the weeks before the election. Almost as if someone told him to stay hidden.
@–> Who Cares: Don’t think a Trooper can jump to a Captain in the ISP… maybe an appointment to something?
Surprised at The margin of SWJ’s win over Kent Gray (who also lost his race for precinct committeeman in Sangamon by almost a 60/40 margin).
Surprised that Trump won Illinois by 8.5% after Gray was dropped for not doing the GOTV job here. Would someone please bring back Paul Harvey to tell us the ‘rest of the story’ on that one?
- TweenRushville&GoodHope - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:29 am:
Let’s hope “Primaries Have Consequences.”
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:31 am:
I was surprised that Sanders didn’t pull out a win here. His base looked like they were getting to the polls; just not quite enough. Will be interesting to see how many “pledged” delegates were elected on both sides.
I was not surprised by the numbers in the 99th. Nowhere (except maybe here) was the race framed as a referendum on Rauner. Sara ran a good, positive campaign and her family name is well-respected in town. Someone said here that Kent Gray is the Harold Stassen of Illinois politics; I think he has worn out his welcome. I was very comfortable voting for Sara.
I was surprised at how big Raja won the 8th Congressional District race. Noland as a sitting state senator should have done much better. Being outspent is no excuse.
Surprised at the large voter turnout numbers in a primary.
Attention and participation in the process by normally passive voters.
Surprised it took some people this long to recognize the toxic behaviors of some politicians.
i hope its over with.
I say the McCann margin of vistory was a surprise. My theory is it represented a mini lashback at Rauner. The GOP internally has not been happy about aome of his polices and heavy handedness, but no JBT to bolden them to stand up. local GOP was angry over Rauner pushing canidates in opposition to those they supported, so i see it as a mini revolt w/ the party.
Would say that I am surprised at the # of people on here who were surprised at McCann’s margin of victory. While a lot of bad stuff came out about McCann, the military issue was an old one to area voters; the mileage reimbursement is just accepted (not right, but not a huge deal). The fact that he voted with the Democrats didn’t put him in Madigan’s pocket, but showed that he would stand up to the governor and represent HIS district. Now that he won, I expect that he will get a slap on the wrist, and have to pay back some reimbursement money, and things will return to normal (Unless of course, he or others, will take his win to take on Rauner).
Also, Madigan’s margin of victory/snark. But seriously, Rauner (who is never wrong) was probably totally surprised at the election results.
I might have gone with several items mentioned above, but for the sake of novelty, I’ll go with the massive student turn-out I witnessed yesterday at UIUC. Many first-time voters/registrants. Most seemed to be Bernie supporters. I hope they don’t get discouraged by the results and start life-long habits of political involvement. Disprove the common wisdom about the unreliable youth vote. Gives an old man hope for the future.
- One of Three Puppets - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 1:34 pm:
Degroot not sending out press releases about McCann’s performance. Seems like he sent out a press release about McCann on everything else.
Wouldn’t it have been a “hoot” to be with Rauner and his Superstars last night watching the returns?
- Property of IDOC - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:54 pm:
The thing that worries me the most, rauner’s retaliation.
The controversial races were won/lost last night because the people understand who should be their advocates. “Should be” and actually “will be” remains to be seen.
They were elected by us, and now they need to protect us.
- Mama - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:20 am:
Trump winning IL was my biggest surprise.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:21 am:
Hillary sweeps.
- Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:22 am:
Really thought Sanders would get by Clinton by a decent margin.
- Phoenix - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:24 am:
Lack of coverage of Rauner slap down.
- Wow - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:25 am:
I have 2…
1. That Dems/republicans rallied together for some great wins that will really help labor and hopefully get a clear message to our governor. We will not put up with his crap no matter how much money he wants to spend to make a point.
2. That Don Gray can’t count.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:25 am:
McCann withstanding the onslaught.
That’s a credit to those understanding the McCann win importance. The fact that McCann was able to be competitive is/was a surprised, given the ads and revelations, but McCann was not just competitive, but won despite continued flaws.
I was surprised. Not shocked, but surprised.
- slow down - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:25 am:
Perhaps I was naïve but I thought Dunkin would be more competitive.
- A Jack - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:27 am:
I was pleasantly surprised that the huge amount of money spent did not overly influence several races.
- Gooner - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:27 am:
McCann was the first. I thought he was toast.
The other was the large margin against Dunkin. I expected that to be closer.
- Steam cleaner - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:27 am:
My biggest surprise was the county running out of ballots at the polling places. I would be furious as a candidate in a close race. Could they have used absentee ballots as substitutes?
Also THANK YOU MR. MILLER FOR YOUR LATE NIGHT UPDATES. I mean this sincerely.
- AlabamaShake - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:29 am:
A couple of big surprises:
1 - margin of victories. I expected Stratton, Fox, Castro to all win, but they all won BIG. Mitchell’s victory was bigger than expected. Even McCann’s 5% victory was probably bigger than I expected.
2 - Theresa Mah’s victory
- siriusly - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:29 am:
McCann is a huge upset. He was vulnerable on so many levels. I assume he benefitted from Trump voters.
- The Captain - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:29 am:
My surprises were sponsored by the letter ‘M’: Mell, Mah, McCann.
- MrGrassroots - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:29 am:
The biggest surprise was the margin of the failure of defeating McCann and Stratton. Wow!!!
- illinoised - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:30 am:
McCann, Trump, and margin of Madigan and Stratton wins.
- Nick Name - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:31 am:
Surprised and disappointed that Sangamon County Republicans gave a slight edge to Benton.
Surprised and pleased that Sangamon County Democrats gave a slight edge to Bernie Sanders.
- Angel's Sword - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:33 am:
McCann winning b/c TVs down here were swamped with negative ads against him, saying he lied about being a marine. Very nasty and came on every commercial break. Never saw one pro-McCann or anti-Benton ad.
- Gordon Willis - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
The margin in the Bourne-Scobbie race
- 360 Degree TurnAround - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
I think Theresa Mah’s victory was the biggest surprise. She will be the first person of Asian descent to serve in the General Assembly (I think), which is a pretty big deal.
- sparky791 - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
McCann win, Dunkin loss by that big of Margins and Rauner not coming out last night and saying that he is still winning.
- Frenchie Mendoza - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
Surprised by the momentum this (seems) to generate for Madigan (and the American public he controls).
I suspect Rauner will spin this as a “win” and “proof” that the Turnaround Agenda is desperately needed. And I suspect will shift into overdrive vindictiveness.
The hurt ain’t even started.
- Blue Dog - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:34 am:
I was surprised that Sam McCann lost Sangamon County, but that may be due to new Trump voters who only knew him by ads.
I was also surprised his race wasn’t closer. Happy to see Benton / Rauner defeated though.
I didn’t expect Bourne to put away Scobbie so easily. I’d heard a lot of hand wringing over that race. She’s going to have her hands full with Mathis though.
- Gooner - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:35 am:
Upon further review, the biggest surprise was Dick Mell.
Nobody saw that one coming.
- Curious Georgina - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:36 am:
I was surprised that McCann pulled it off. Also surprised at how handily Dorothy Brown won re-election.
- UISer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:36 am:
Don Gray having no clue how to do his job.
- Casual observer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:37 am:
I’m surprised that, it seems, Ds that pulled an R ballot to vote for McCann also voted for Jiminez. Wasted opportunity if you’re trying to send a message.
- BBG - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:37 am:
I was extremely surprised and happy that people voted accordingly!
- Union Leader - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:38 am:
Really thought Sanders was going to squeak by in Illinois.
Nothing made me happier than seeing Rauner get schooled by the Master, Mr. Michael Madigan!
Hope the ILGOP in the legislature will now turn their collective backs on Rauner and start to work on a bi-partisan basis.
- spidad60 - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:39 am:
I was surprised that there were no political adds in my mailbox yesterday…only a credit card app
- Another Voter - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:41 am:
The attitude here surprises me, the all about winning tells me the Voters lost again.
- burbanite - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:41 am:
Like so many, McCann-Wow I didn’t think he could hold on with all the negatives and absolutely the large margin Stratton won by, I thought it was going to be close. Kudos to the voters in the 5th, I think their awareness of what was really going on was underestimated. Labor needs to stay on its game, it ain’t over.
- IBEW - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:41 am:
Rauner taken to the wood shed
- D.P.Gumby - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:43 am:
Brucie slap down compared to T-Rump success.
- cdog - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:44 am:
Biggest visual surprise–the image of Dunkin at the microphone with ZERO people in the frame, the beautiful buffet of food untouched. His life just got very lonely, but has been caused by his own foolishness. Too bad, so sad.
Biggest disappointing surprise– the running out of ballots which prevented some voters from exercising their precious American right to participate in democracy.
This situation is completely bizarre and unacceptable, regardless of the execuses beng offered.
- Wensicia - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:44 am:
Running out of ballots surprised me, though I was pleased so many participated yesterday. I thought Sanders would take the state.
- RNUG - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:44 am:
Biggest surprise: the margin of McCann’s win; very strong (+10%) outside Sangamon County. Hoped for it but wasn’t that sure about it; parts of his old district and union support carried the day.
Smaller surprise: Slim margin for Hillary over Bernie; it should have been a cake walk for her but I suspect a lot of first time voters went for Bernie.
- AC - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:45 am:
Ballot shortages in Sangamon County, ineffective campaign cash, and OW not having reason to scold labor today.
- D.P.Gumby - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:47 am:
Also the failure in several counties to have enough ballots. That indicates a failure to prepare for same day registration. Sangamon County and Adams County and I don’t know where else.
- RNUG - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:48 am:
== OW not having reason to scold labor today. ==
But labor needs to remember and follow through in November.
- Saluki - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:48 am:
I was pleasantly surprised that McCann won and Dunkin lost. It gives me a slight hope that some sort of adult conversation can begin between the leaders to solve this budget impasse. I hope it gives republican members of the General Assembly the courage to think for themselves, and offer solutions that are detached from the Governor. I don’t have high hopes for this, but I feel as if more things may be possible today than they were on Monday.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:49 am:
Sangamon County ballot problems. I know turnout was higher than expected, but it wasn’t THAT high to cause so many problems. I’ve heard numerous stories of people not being able to vote at all.
- Johnnie F. - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:49 am:
Surprised by the lack of superstar spin this morning.
- Dozer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:50 am:
McCann, Mah….D. Brown, not the win but the margin
- Dirty Red - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:50 am:
= Ds that pulled an R ballot to vote for McCann also voted for Jiminez =
They were going to vote for Trump’s guy? SWJ also had union bugs on her door tags.
I likewise thought Dunkin would be closer, and the margin of McCann’s victory was a surprise. I thought a Benton victory would have been by this margin whereas a McCann win would be very narrow. Caught me there.
I’d say the Mah victory over Acevado was somewhat surprising, too.
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:51 am:
Nothing really “surprises” me any more, but:
1. Benton winning Sangamon County by maybe 1% but Jimenez winning by almost 30% makes no sense. Tony DelGiornio (sp?) is a good enough candidate to make this a race. Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances to hold the seat? Labor and state workers inadvertently made that a tougher seat to play in. That also strikes me as an inconsistent vote, but whatever.
2. I thought Dennis Scobbie might have a better showing. He got trounced. I have a feeling that the Bourne-Mathis race could be the closest (and perhaps the most expensive) general election race.
3. HRC winning Illinois was interesting. I for sure thought Bernie would pull it off. It looks like the Presidential race is set. Trump vs. Hillary…bleck!
- Free Roddy B - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
That thunderstorm
- Robert the Bruce - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
I was pleasantly surprised with the margins by which Dunkin & Alvarez lost.
- Hit or Miss - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
1 - The failure to defeat McCann considering the negativity of the campaign against him.
2 - The margin of the loss by Dunkin considering the amount of money backing him.
- PublicServant - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
I’m surprised we haven’t seen reports of a TV repairman arriving at the governor’s mansion to replace a TV with a shoe embedded in it.
- Rollo Tamasi - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:52 am:
Not Surprised? Rauner playing politics so poorly.
Surprised? The margin of how badly Dunkin lost and by how much Madigan won.
Surprised? How much money was wasted trying to keep Dunkin in office and trying to get McCann out of office.
Surprised? Hillary Clinton, Patricia Van Pelt, and Dorothy Brown all under investigation all won their races handily.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:53 am:
===But labor needs to remember and follow through in November.===
Agreed.
To paraphrase…
“Labor? You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up… 15 minutes. Then get your tails back in gear.”
I’ll say, with no reservation, Labor showed me a lot last night, and for that, for last night, I was so very impressed.
- Decaff Coffee Party - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:53 am:
Sangamon County not going to a BYOB (Bring Your Own Ballot) program. Would have saved even more money than merely skimping on printing ballots.
While it was inconvenient for those that had to wait, the turnout was surprisingly good even despite the perfect storm of races on both sides that produced the turnout.
- lake county democrat - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:54 am:
McCann and Brad Schneider. It felt like Rottering had the momentum and in an election year where Dems are tilting left, that made sense. Not sure if Schneider won because of positions or just name recognition.
- Magic Dragon - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:54 am:
Rauner - “I never lose”….guess what, you just lost!
- RNUG - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:55 am:
== Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances to hold the seat? ==
That’s what I did; tried to vote against all the Rauner connected candidates. Think maybe that race got lost in the weeds with all the focus here on McCann / Benton.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:55 am:
Also the Foxx margin of victory.
I suspected she would win, but 58% in a three-way race including an incumbent is big time.
Emanuel’s hide and delay strategy on the McDonald video was no accident.
- Chucktownian - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:56 am:
I was surprised that Clinton went ahead and swept the five states which means Bernie is getting pretty close to toast.
Also, the level of the Rauner slap down surprised me. There’s pretty much no way he can say his Turnaround Agenda resonates with voters. He lost everywhere he went all in. I hope this means either he will be more reasonable (doubtful) or his own party’s legislators will begin to act in a more independent manner (jury is out on that now).
- Been There - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:56 am:
Besides the margins of some of the wins Mell losing was a huge surprise. I thought Acevedo would win. Did Shirley Madigan and the other Clinton delegates lose in the 3rd congressional?
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:57 am:
The McCann and Stratton victories. Hillary winning four of five (and possibly five of five) states–especially in the Rust Belt. Ohio really surprised me in how well she performed there. Illinois didn’t surprise me. An exit poll showed Clinton losing to Sanders in Illinois.
- From the 'Dale to HP - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:58 am:
Dorothy Brown winning so easily.
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:58 am:
Not enough ballots. Need to be MUCH better prepared for the General in the Fall. Also, just a wonderment, could trying to be frugal at the local level have contributed to not enough on hand ballots? The same day registration is going to be more of a pressure point for some areas. They need to be prepared for this!
- Austin Blvd - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:58 am:
Wasn’t surprised, but worth noting that the House GOP did not run any positive Reggie Phillips ads. Just depended on Proft to run negative ads against Kaye.
No coordination, I’m sure.
- Allen D - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:58 am:
The biggest for me were
1. McCann - I expected a tight race but did not expect McCann to win.
2. Clinton winning over Sanders - Don’t get me wrong I voted for Trump but still watch all the races to stay informed.
- Not it - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:59 am:
I didn’t think it possible that Dunkin would lose and McCann would win. I thought they would either both lose or both win.
- Aldyth - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:00 am:
That Rauner’s return on investment was so poor. Surprised and delighted!
- Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:00 am:
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Dorothy Brown does not shock me. I guess if I have to be “surprised” about something… Trump did not win my county. What a relief. I was starting to think bad thoughts about some of my townsfolk.
- Magic carpet ride - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:00 am:
A canditate running in the largest district geographically in the state. I did not here one word from Byrce Benton until it was over last night, why? Isn’t that surprising?
- Time to go to work - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:01 am:
Really hope these results bring Republicans and Rauner back to the table. If the Dem’s are smart they will find a way to give Rauner a small victory and strike a deal. Our social services and Universities are literally dying. Everyone needs to read Mark Browns Column today. He hits the nail on the head:
http://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/brown-dem-voters-tell-rauner-to-butt-out/
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:03 am:
Ride - sorry to burst your bubble, but Bryce did get out and campaign in the rest of the district. If you followed him on social media, then you would know that he did make the rounds.
To be fair, there are events that candidates should not attend (i.e. a county planning commission meeting). That is where the incumbent will always have the upper hand.
- Not it - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:03 am:
I also wasn’t surprised Dorothy Brown won, but amazed at the margins in that race. Meister was clearly the better candidate and came in a distant third. He never had a chance, which speaks volumes about the corruption and forgiving attitude of corruption and incompetence in Cook County. No wonder our government is so messed up, we the voters allow it to happen. It’s our own fault.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:04 am:
===Why not vote for Kent Gray and weaken the HRO’s chances===
People just don’t vote that way. He never laid a glove on her and she ran a positive campaign. She’s extremely likeable and still probably known from her TV days. I voted for her.
- Concerned Observer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:05 am:
At 5:55 or so, Mark Suppelsa from WGN noted that their staff at the Anita Alvarez event saw no TVs to monitor results, no signs, and no balloons or other celebratory items in the wings.
What surprises me is that she knew from jump she would lose…badly.
- Casual observer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:05 am:
I wonder if Rauner got a warranty with the fractured election he tried to purchase.
- Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:05 am:
Dick Mell. I knew Theresa Mah would win.
==The attitude here surprises me, the all about winning tells me the Voters lost again.==
So the only way the Voters can win is if all the candidates loose? /s
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:08 am:
–At 5:55 or so, Mark Suppelsa from WGN noted that their staff at the Anita Alvarez event saw no TVs to monitor results…–
She has problems with video.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:11 am:
Except for Dunkin, everything went about the way I thought it would. I am not surprised that the apparent presidential match up is two NYC center-left candidates, if you strip away all the bombast and bluster and go on history.
- anon - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:15 am:
=== What surprises me is that she knew from jump she would lose…badly.===
Then why did she loan her campaign 200 large a few days ago?
- Stones - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:15 am:
Dorothy Brown surprised me.
- zatoichi - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:15 am:
Read through the online version of the Chi Trib this morning. Big stories on Trump, Clinton, Dunkin, Madigan, Duckworth, Kirk. No obvious mention of McCann/Benton any where.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:15 am:
Normalcy returned.
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:18 am:
The size of the margins for Foxx, Stratton and Van Pelt. Also, Dick Mell and Joe Moreno, whether they pull it out or not.
- Matthew Vernau - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:20 am:
Team Sleep at 8:51
The victories of Jimenez and Bourne may not be that hard to understand. Smart, cute girls are hard to beat. In the case of Jimenez a voter had to willingly select a none to bright Trump supporter. We can hope in the interim that both Jimenez and Bourne will act a bit more independently. Time for a budget not time to rearrange deck chairs.
- 10th ward - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:23 am:
the acevedo family wanted Alex to be appointed but John Daley blocked it. HMMMM? did he and his Irish mob support Mah?
- Concerned Observer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:25 am:
anon, by ‘jump’ I meant early on election day.
- Sick & Tired - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:34 am:
==Biggest visual surprise–the image of Dunkin at the microphone with ZERO people in the frame, the beautiful buffet of food untouched. His life just got very lonely, but has been caused by his own foolishness.==
I missed this! Any video or photo? I need to partake in schadenfreude.
- Enviro - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:37 am:
I was surprised that Bernie Sanders did not win even one state yesterday.
- Flunky McTaggert - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:38 am:
I’m surprised that Dan Proft still has his job (and his head).
- @MisterJayEm - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:39 am:
1) The margins of the Stratton and Foxx races. I was certain I’d lose at least another hour of sleep waiting for the results in those races, but instead I was able to hit the hay even earlier than usual last night.
2) The poor showing by the presidential candidates backed by the traditional Illinois Republican establishment. The combined votes of Ron Sandack’s candidate (Kasich, 20%) and the Tribune’s candidate (Rubio, 9%) fell below Cruz’s vote (31%) and was a full ten points short of Trump’s total (39%).
Viewed through that lens, Rauner looks more like an early symptom of the IL-GOP’s identity crisis, rather than a cause.
3) News organizations that refuse to understand that presidential primaries are about DELEGATES won, not STATES won.
It’s a simple and irrefutable fact, but it must be really bad for ratings.
– MrJM
- Magic carpet ride - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:40 am:
=Team Sleep= I just thought I would have heard candidate Bryce Benton give a speech somewhere or heard him speak in one of his teevee ads.
- Joan M - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:41 am:
Surprised that Rep Pat Verschoores grandson was beat in the 72nd district rep race.
- Tinsel Town - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:42 am:
I thought given the $$ Rauner tossed into the fray, the $$ given to Dan Proft’s PAC, the bravado chest thumping Proft was doing on the radio, the 8 clearly political news rags distributed around the state, the negative video ad’s, and the crap coming out of the Illinois News Network, Rauner and company got govno.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:44 am:
It proved Bruce Rauner is toxic. Now will the R GA distance themselves from him?
- Flunky McTaggert - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:47 am:
I’m surprised that Ken Dunkin got $500,000 on election day. What the heck is going on with that?
- jobs - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:50 am:
“Viewed through that lens, Rauner looks more like an early symptom of the IL-GOP’s identity crisis, rather than a cause.”
That’s fascinating.
Surprise? August Deuser winning the 1st Congresional District Republican primary. Unknown, old-school, retired teacher, no money, just knocking on doors for months.
- Who cares - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:50 am:
Biggest surprise is yet to come: Rauner appointing Benton to Captain at ISP for taking one for the team.
- Harry - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:50 am:
1. McCann winning
2. How little Rauner got for his money.
- Huff and Puff - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:50 am:
Biggest surprise- that political observers, even up to yesterday, still held on to the notion that Rauner’s money and political team is competent or productive.
Newsflash “Superstars”: You won in 2014 because of disaffection with Quinn, not because of your politcal savvy or any groundswell of support for your agenda.
Sheesh, imagine what could be accomplished if the unions had the kind of political pocket change that these billionaires have.
- The Muse - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:52 am:
The fact that some precincts ran out of ballots… How does someone not properly prepare for that??
- cdog - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 9:53 am:
“That Rauner’s return on investment was so poor.”
Mr. Big Money plotting a grandiose plan that returns a poor ROI? Imagine that! What a surprise!
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:04 am:
===the acevedo family wanted Alex to be appointed but John Daley blocked it. HMMMM? did he and his Irish mob support Mah?===
Mah took 56% in the 11th Ward, which was her largest margin of any ward.
- Kay F C - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:05 am:
Dorothy Brown
- walker - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:07 am:
Brown cruising. For now.
- cdog - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:11 am:
Sick and Tired — (I hope you feel better soon.
Here is a link to the picture of Dunkin, on the lonely first day of the rest of his life. (It was on Mr. Miller’s ScribbleFeed last night.)
https://twitter.com/AudrinaBigos/media
- TD - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:19 am:
Dorothy Brown winning. Yes, her race was buried under others of more note and two challengers probably split the vote. But still…she had a lot of baggage and negatives coming into the race.
- Casual observer - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:20 am:
Biggest surprise has to be that Rich Miller just admitted to pulling an R ballot.
- Behind the Scenes - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:25 am:
Surprised that many precincts ran out of ballots. Clearly, no one expected that large of a vote anywhere.
Thought McCann would win Sangamon County over Benton despite gigantic LPP TV buys and mailers against him (and a piddling amount of TV and mail by LPP for Benton). And, Benton was pretty invisible in Sangamon County in the weeks before the election. Almost as if someone told him to stay hidden.
@–> Who Cares: Don’t think a Trooper can jump to a Captain in the ISP… maybe an appointment to something?
Surprised at The margin of SWJ’s win over Kent Gray (who also lost his race for precinct committeeman in Sangamon by almost a 60/40 margin).
Surprised that Trump won Illinois by 8.5% after Gray was dropped for not doing the GOTV job here. Would someone please bring back Paul Harvey to tell us the ‘rest of the story’ on that one?
- TweenRushville&GoodHope - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:29 am:
Let’s hope “Primaries Have Consequences.”
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:31 am:
I was surprised that Sanders didn’t pull out a win here. His base looked like they were getting to the polls; just not quite enough. Will be interesting to see how many “pledged” delegates were elected on both sides.
I was not surprised by the numbers in the 99th. Nowhere (except maybe here) was the race framed as a referendum on Rauner. Sara ran a good, positive campaign and her family name is well-respected in town. Someone said here that Kent Gray is the Harold Stassen of Illinois politics; I think he has worn out his welcome. I was very comfortable voting for Sara.
- Tween... - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:34 am:
Surprise? That any reader of this blog would confess to voting for Trump.
- phocion - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:40 am:
I was surprised at how big Raja won the 8th Congressional District race. Noland as a sitting state senator should have done much better. Being outspent is no excuse.
- Team Warwick - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 10:42 am:
Surprised at the large voter turnout numbers in a primary.
Attention and participation in the process by normally passive voters.
Surprised it took some people this long to recognize the toxic behaviors of some politicians.
i hope its over with.
- Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:01 am:
We can rid ourselves of Alvarez but not Dorothy Brown.
- Rhino Slider - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:11 am:
I am surprised Rich Miller just admitted he pulled a Republican ballot.
Otherwise, the election results don’t surprise me much.
- Mama - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:19 am:
==I’ll say, with no reservation, Labor showed me a lot last night, and for that, for last night, I was so very impressed. ==
OW, thank you for acknowledging the union contributions in the primary.
- Mama - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:22 am:
Rich, any word from the governor about the results of the primary?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:29 am:
===Rich, any word from the governor about the results of the primary? ===
Not yet, but I assume he’ll blame Madigan for everything.
- Ghost - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:33 am:
I say the McCann margin of vistory was a surprise. My theory is it represented a mini lashback at Rauner. The GOP internally has not been happy about aome of his polices and heavy handedness, but no JBT to bolden them to stand up. local GOP was angry over Rauner pushing canidates in opposition to those they supported, so i see it as a mini revolt w/ the party.
- downstate commissioner - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:56 am:
Would say that I am surprised at the # of people on here who were surprised at McCann’s margin of victory. While a lot of bad stuff came out about McCann, the military issue was an old one to area voters; the mileage reimbursement is just accepted (not right, but not a huge deal). The fact that he voted with the Democrats didn’t put him in Madigan’s pocket, but showed that he would stand up to the governor and represent HIS district. Now that he won, I expect that he will get a slap on the wrist, and have to pay back some reimbursement money, and things will return to normal (Unless of course, he or others, will take his win to take on Rauner).
Also, Madigan’s margin of victory/snark. But seriously, Rauner (who is never wrong) was probably totally surprised at the election results.
- Mama - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 12:07 pm:
I look for Rauner to spin his loss as a win!
- X-prof - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 12:54 pm:
I might have gone with several items mentioned above, but for the sake of novelty, I’ll go with the massive student turn-out I witnessed yesterday at UIUC. Many first-time voters/registrants. Most seemed to be Bernie supporters. I hope they don’t get discouraged by the results and start life-long habits of political involvement. Disprove the common wisdom about the unreliable youth vote. Gives an old man hope for the future.
- One of Three Puppets - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 1:34 pm:
Degroot not sending out press releases about McCann’s performance. Seems like he sent out a press release about McCann on everything else.
- Union Leader - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:51 pm:
Wouldn’t it have been a “hoot” to be with Rauner and his Superstars last night watching the returns?
- Property of IDOC - Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 8:54 pm:
The thing that worries me the most, rauner’s retaliation.
The controversial races were won/lost last night because the people understand who should be their advocates. “Should be” and actually “will be” remains to be seen.
They were elected by us, and now they need to protect us.