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*** UPDATED x3 - Frerichs closes in *** Chicago: At least 24,000 votes left to count

Thursday, Nov 6, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has updated its totals online. This latest info could be crucial to the too close to call state treasurer’s race. From a press release…

Here are the biggest items that remain:

- Absentee Ballots: Approximately 9,900 absentee ballots that were received Monday and Tuesday, plus 1,500 that arrived on Wednesday that had postmarks of Nov. 3 or earlier.

- Approximately 10,000 in-precinct provisional ballots from 48 wards, excluding what we still needed to retrieve from all of the 3rd Ward and parts of the 4th Ward.

- Approximately 2,900 Same-Day registration provisional ballots from Monday and Tuesday

There then is a universe of 11,400 absentee ballots that were mailed out to voters but not yet returned, which hypothetically could have a Nov. 3 or earlier postmark and arrive by close of business Nov. 18. Some of those may arrive and qualify to be counted, and others may arrive postmarked too late to be counted, and still others may never arrive if the voter decided instead to vote in the polling place on Election Day.

That totals over 24,000, plus whatever additional absentees they receive.

* The AP has Cross ahead by 21,011 votes. Reuters has Cross ahead by 3,552 votes. I’m not sure who’s right, but I tend to trust the experienced AP more than Reuters.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Forget about the AP, forget about Reuters. Scott Kennedy’s online tracker has, by far, the most updated numbers. And right now, the tracker has Cross up by only 13,202 votes. That could easily be wiped out by those Chicago ballots.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Kennedy updated his numbers…

Yikes.

*** UPDATE 3 *** Kennedy explains his update…

I went to all the election authority websites again tonight and updated any data that was new in the tracker. Here’s a summary of what’s new:

City of Chicago – they finally included the last 6 uncounted precincts in their totals, they now have 100% precincts reporting. It appears that the City of Chicago totals only show regular votes, it doesn’t appear they have vote by mail votes or any provisionals (including same day registration) counted. See more on that here. Frerichs had a net gain here of 1,171 votes.

Cook County Suburbs – they added a little over 6,500 votes to their existing numbers, I’m guessing these were vote by mail ballots. Frerichs had a net gain here of 1,509 votes.

Jackson County – they added almost 1,700 votes to their existing numbers, Frerichs had a net gain of 53 votes.

City of Rockford – they added about 600 votes to their existing totals, Frerichs had a net gain of 231 votes.

Ogle County – they added 4 votes to their existing totals, Frerichs had a net gain of 2.

I had heard that Will County was supposed to have some updated numbers, which most likely would have added to Cross’ advantage but they haven’t updated anything yet.

Also here are a few known issues:

Fulton County – I went to check to see if there was any update and tonight I couldn’t find a link to their totals. Not sure if I am just missing it or what. I swear it was there last night.

Jersey County – I am still using the AP’s numbers here. The numbers they have listed on their website are so small they can’t be right. The AP’s numbers are consistent with historical norms, the numbers they have listed just seem like there has to be an error. I’ll keep an eye on this.

Marshall County – their website was down tonight and displaying a server error.

20 Small Counties – all the data in pink on the tracker is still just what the AP reported for these 20 small counties. Most of them don’t even have a county website so short of calling them all I can’t verify the AP’s reported numbers.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* Meanwhile the Chicago GOP sent out an “emergency” plea for volunteers…

Volunteers,

Tom Cross won the Treasurer’s race Tuesday, but only by a few thousand votes. Now they’re counting absentee and provisional ballots at the Board of Elections, and the Democrats are going to try to make up the difference. We need volunteers to ensure that the votes get counted correctly.

Please show up at the Chicago Board of Elections tomorrow. The work starts at 8:00 am, but any time you can give during the day will help.

Chicago Board of Elections
69 W Washington
Contact: Caitlin Huxley
Phone: 312.841.0172 or Caitlin.Huxley@ChicagoGOP.com

The job is very simple, and very important: watch the ballot process to make sure everything is above board.

Don’t let the Democrats take this one away.

Chris Cleveland

* From Team Frerichs…

Thanks to all of you, our race is extremely close and could go either way. While the Cross campaign has indicated that they believe there are only 17,000 ballots still to be counted as of Wednesday morning, by everyone else’s count, election authorities are still counting tens of thousands of ballots across the state.

Many of those ballots come from seniors and military personnel serving overseas, as well as the provisional ballots cast on Election Day by people who unfortunately waited as long as nine hours to vote.

We, like most people, believe those votes should be counted. The race is extremely close right now and could go either way, and the campaign is waiting for all the votes to be counted.

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*** UPDATED x1 - Service details *** Lane Evans

Thursday, Nov 6, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE *** Service details…

* Visitation will be from 12 noon-6:00 p.m. at Esterdahl Mortuary (6601-38th Avenue in Moline) on Saturday & Sunday, November 8 & 9.

* Funeral will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 10, at Sacred Heart Church (1608-13th Street in Moline).

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* From the Quad City Times…

Former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for years, died Wednesday night, according to his longtime friend and district director, Phil Hare.

Evans, who represented the 17th Congressional District in Illinois for 24 years and was a hero of local Democrats on both sides of the Mississippi River, had been living at the Hope Creek Care Center in East Moline. He was 63 years old.

Hare said that he got the call late Wednesday night, and that he had seen Evans as recently as 10 days ago, when retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin also paid a visit.

Evans, a former Marine who won accolades for his work helping veterans who had suffered the effects of Agent Orange, was swept into office in 1982, and he maintained the seat even in the face of stiff Republican challenges in the 1990s.

* A text message early this morning from a pal in organized labor…

Lane Evans passed away yesterday. One of the most inspiring political leaders I have ever known. He dedicated everything he had to the people of Western Illinois. It will be a long time before we see another one like him. Thank heavens for Lane Evans.

Lane surprised the Republicans when he won his first race in 1982. In 1984, he won reelection by the same margin that Ronald Reagan won his district, despite voting against the President more than 90 percent of the time (if memory serves, a higher percentage than any other member except Harold Washington, who was at 100 percent). Those two wins made him a larger than life figure for many Democrats.

He was so successful politically because he never, ever forgot about his district. Unlike a lot of members of that era, he flew home every weekend and had one of the best constituent service operations in all of Congress. And he never forgot who he was and where he came from.

I didn’t always agree with him, but I sure as heck admired him.

* From Cheri Bustos…

Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) released the following statement on the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans, who represented for more than 20 years the same Congressional District Bustos is honored to now represent:

“I was saddened to wake this morning to the news that Lane Evans passed away late last night. A native of Rock Island, and a proud Marine Corps veteran, Lane represented everything that is right about public service. He was a champion for our region in the halls of Congress and a strong advocate for veterans and working families across the country. Lane will be sorely missed by all who he touched but his legacy of service will never be forgotten.”

Bustos first got to know Lane Evans when she was a newspaper reporter, covering the region. She last visited him during the summer at Hope Creek, where Lane lived and was cared for.

* Dick Durbin…

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin today released the following statement after learning of the death of former Quad Cities Congressman Lane Evans.

“Illinois lost one of its kindest, most caring public servants with the passing of my friend and colleague Lane Evans. When I last visited him, I told him our friend Barack Obama still remembered his quiet courage as a Congressman. I recall our many common causes for veterans and our downstate districts and, of course, our many hard fought campaigns.

“Lane told me years later that it was during a joint appearance in 1996 at a Labor Day parade in Galesburg that he first felt the numbing in his hand which led to his Parkinson’s diagnosis: a disease that trapped his body but never restrained his great spirit. Thank heavens for Lane Evans.”

* Sen. Kirk…

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) released the following statement today after the passing of former Illinois Congressman Lane Evans at the age of 63:

“For 24 years, Congressman Lane Evans dedicated his life to serving the people of Illinois. As a Marine, and senior Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Congressman Evans gave a voice to the thousands of Illinois veterans and worked to rid the stigma that often surrounds combat-based injuries. I am grateful for the work he has done to care for our nation’s servicemen and women, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family today.”

* From the White House…

Statement from President Barack Obama on the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans

“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans. Lane was a proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and dedicated much of his public life to helping his fellow veterans, particularly those who fought in Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange. Lane was one of my earliest supporters when I ran for the Senate, and I was proud to have him by my side when I was elected President. Above all, Lane was an American hero, a dear friend and a beloved public servant of the people of Illinois. Michelle and I extend our thoughts and prayers to Lane’s family and friends, and the people he represented in Congress who loved him so dearly.”

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