* 1:36 am - New numbers in the GOP governor’s race…

Governor - GOP Primary
Illinois - 11091 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Brady , Bill GOP 154,622 20%
Dillard , Kirk GOP 154,076 20%

546-vote margin. Dillard made up about 900 votes since the last tabulation. I think that was from the uncounted (by AP) votes in Lake County. Dillard is outpolling Brady 3-1 in the city and almost 4-1 in suburban Cook.

* The Tribune wasted no time in going after Scott Lee Cohen…

Scott Lee Cohen, a pawn broker and cleaning supply distributor, appeared to be edging out state Rep. Art Turner for the Democratic nomination [for lt. governor]. Cohen had 26 percent of the vote to Turner’s 22 percent, with 97 percent counted.

Cohen, a little-known candidate who financed much of the campaign with his own fortune, will have to answer questions during the general election race as more is learned about him. He was charged with a 2005 misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
He was accused of beating a woman, but the case was dropped a month later when she refused to show up in court to pursue the charges.

* As I told you earlier, Raja Krishnamoorthi refused to concede. But there’s little chance of overturning this one…

Comptroller - Dem Primary
Illinois - 11097 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Miller , David Dem 382,850 47%
Krishnamoorthi , Raja Dem 376,897 46%

That’s almost 6,000 votes. In the age of electronic balloting, that’s gonna be pretty darned tough, if not impossible to overturn. Here’s Rep. David Miller’s speech…

* 1:49 am - New numbers…

Governor - GOP Primary
Illinois - 11097 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Brady , Bill GOP 154,629 20%
Dillard , Kirk GOP 154,119 20%

510 votes. That’s a 36-vote pickup in the six precincts counted since the last update - 6 votes per precinct. If that trend holds, Dillard picks up a net 708 votes - meaning he has the potential of winning by 198 votes. LOL. Recount city, baby.

There are 117 GOP precincts still to be counted in suburban Cook and Chicago. Only one other precinct remains unaccounted for. I’m not sure where that one is, or maybe AP and I have different numbers for Cook/Chicago.

* Clinton County hasn’t yet counted 3 precincts. Brady is doing very well there, and if current trends hold, he picks up about 35 or 36 net votes.

* St. Clair County hasn’t yet counted one precinct. Based on current trends, that’s a couple/three votes net for Brady.

* 2:11 am - New numbers…

Illinois - 11118 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Brady , Bill GOP 154,646 20%
Dillard , Kirk GOP 154,143 20%

503-vote margin. That’s only a seven-vote pickup, even though 21 precincts were counted. Not many Republicans in those precincts. Somebody on the Brady team might want to call Clinton and St. Clair counties and see if they can finish counting tonight, but he may not need it. Fun.

* 2:24 am - David Orr has suspended tallying. From a press release…

To allow for public viewing, tallying of results for suburban Cook County will resume on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Clerk’s election warehouse, 4545 W. Cermak, Chicago.

Counting of the remaining 24 of 1,937 precincts will begin at 9 a.m. All are welcome.

Unofficial suburban Cook County election results, suspended at 98.76 percent of precincts reporting, are available at cookcountyclerk.com.

That really sucks.

* I just got an e-mail from the Jim Ryan campaign…

ELECTION DAY:
Help Us Send 100,000 E-Yard Signs Today!
It’s Primary Election Day — and today the Illinois Republican voters will take a first step toward restoring honest, ethical authentic leadership to Springfield.
I would be honored to have your vote — and need your help to get our voters to the polls today.

That explains some things.

* Well, since Cook, Chicago, St. Clair and Clinton counties have all suspended counting, it’s time to end the blog portion of our program.