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* UPDATED x1 * Frerichs declares victory in treasurer’s race

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* Let’s do a quick roundup, starting with Bernie…

“We’ve tried to appeal to everyone, but what we’re going to try to focus on now, after the course of a long campaign where we were fighting for votes, is not we’ll be the treasurer for all 13 million people in the state of Illinois,” Frerichs said. “Partisanship falls aside.”

Frerichs, who plans to meet today with Gov.-elect Rauner, announced that his transition team would be headed by Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a former deputy treasurer who lost the 2010 race for the post. […]

The Election Day narrative focused almost solely on Rauner topping Quinn, giving the GOP the governor’s seat for the first time in 12 years. But Frerichs’ triumph leaves Republicans with just one other statewide constitutional officer — re-elected Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. That puts a damper on the postelection GOP glow, particularly combined with trends that show Democrats maintaining a veto-proof majority in the House, an advantage they hold in the Senate.

* Natasha…

Frerichs’ spokesman, Dave Clarkin, said Wednesday that while the total was close, the provisional ballots counted in recent days had been trending in their favor. He pointed to “Rauner-Frerichs” voters, describing them as independents in the collar counties and downstate.

“This race was neck-and-neck in polling leading up to Election Day, but we have believed all along that if the trend continued of Mike Frerichs performing strong in downstate Illinois and the suburbs, we would win by an insurmountable margin,” Clarkin said. “What we saw emerge [Tuesday] in the suburbs exceeded our expectations. This race is being decided by tens of thousands of Rauner-Frerichs voters: independents in suburbs from Winnetka to Orland Park, from Waukegan to Joliet in the collar counties, and from Rock Island to deep Southern Illinois.”

* Rick and Ray…

Frerichs, a former Champaign County auditor who has served in the General Assembly since 2007, said congratulations were pouring in, including 142 text messages that he couldn’t immediately respond to during his drive to Springfield for the start of the fall session.

With a win of “less than one vote per precinct, there are any number of people who can claim credit for that victory,” Frerichs said. And he quickly joked that “lots of people have called to claim credit” ever since the numbers started breaking his way. […]

The results of the treasurer’s race, along with locally contested state legislative races, indicate Rauner supplied little coattails in his victory over Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. Instead, the results show the governor’s race was decided more out of a desire for change among voters unhappy with Quinn’s job performance rather than any Republican or Rauner-inspired wave.

* John…

In Chicago, some invalid absentee ballots were improperly mixed with valid ones, but the city’s Board of Election Commissioners rebutted most of the charges even as Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk sought intervention by the U.S. attorney in Chicago. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney would not comment Wednesday.

In suburban Cook County, the Cross campaign alleged it had examined 8,000 cases people requesting mail-in ballots and found 235 where voters appeared to have cast ballots twice.

But Cook County Clerk David Orr told the AP on Tuesday that his office didn’t find any inappropriately tallied ballots. In 86 cases, mail-in ballots were unsigned, invalidating them, so election officials contacted each voter and they appeared on Election Day.

Orr said he appreciates activists’ involvement in the process, but was irked that the Cross campaign publicized the concern in a news release before alerting authorities. That “hurts democracy,” Orr said.

“I certainly know the old rumors associated with Cook County,” Orr said. “But as we move into the future, we want to be careful about unsubstantiated allegations.”

* Tom K…

As for his successor in the state Senate, a position that will be filled by the Democratic Party chairmen in Champaign and Vermilion counties in the next 30 days, Frerichs said, “It’s not mine to fill.”

Frerichs’ term runs through 2016.

“If people want to hear from me, then we’ll see who comes forward and offers to serve. I think I’m uniquely qualified to tell them what to expect in the office and the race,” he said. “There are a lot of smart, good people in the 52nd District and we’ll look forward to hearing from them soon.”

Frerichs is the first state treasurer from East Central Illinois since Democrat William Ryan of Vermilion County was elected in 1913. And he’s the first Democrat from Champaign County to be elected to any statewide constitutional office in the county’s 181-year history.

Your thoughts?

*** UPDATE *** From the Frerichs folks…

As announced yesterday the co-chairs of Treasurer-elect Frerichs’ transition team are Congresswoman Robin Kelly and Michael T. Carrigan, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO. The transition team’s members will also include:

• Paul Miller, Director

• Zach Koutsky, Deputy Director

• Charise Williams, Deputy Director, Civic Engagement

The transition team is in formation and more details will follow.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:25 am

Comments

Congratulations to Mr. Frerichs and good luck to him. His comments in claiming the win are gracious and well put. He will likely continue developing and grow into the position after learning from some of the mistakes made during the campaign.

Watching that vote move from being down roughly 21,000 votes after the machine count to being up roughly 9,000 votes after the absentee and mail-in count must have been a wild ride.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:37 am
He will make his predecessor look like an amateur when it comes to self-promotion. To be fair, however, he wouldn’t stoop quite as low as Pongee.

Comment by LincolnLounger Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:38 am
It’s interesting how fragile our political narratives are, even from the Tribune. Just a few days ago Bruce Rauner was heralded as the head of a political movement that would transform Illinois government and lead the Illinois Republican party into a new era. Now, thanks to 9,338 voters in the Treasurer’s race (and counting) we have decided “the results show the governor’s race was decided more out of a desire for change among voters unhappy with Quinn’s job performance rather than any Republican or Rauner-inspired wave”.

Broad, sweeping generalizations about the most recent election are a lot like the Chicago weather, if you don’t like the current iteration just wait about 10 minutes.

Comment by The Captain Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:43 am
his election is an interesting development for the Democratic Party in Illinois. downstate interest, a person from a group that had seem to be disappearing from the party on a Statewide level….white Protestant….and someone who can be in the room with fiscal discussions. follow the money, it’s what people care about.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:48 am
My take on the election results, strengthened by the Frerichs victory, is that Rauner was swept in by the national Republican wave, but the wave receded before it could touch the lower ticket candidates.

Attributing credit to the national wave is not at all incompatible with realizing that Quinn was responsible for his own loss. He left himself vulnerable to the wave as a result of the passivity of his governorship.

What we have now is Illinois as a Democratic political island in the middle of a Republican national sea, with the exception of its highest office. Incredibly interesting situation.

Comment by Quiet Sage Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:55 am
His horizon is six years out. Another downstate Senator with upstate appeal.

Comment by walker Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 10:59 am
Can’t wait to see all the comments here demanding to see the GOP members of Frerichs’ transition team. “…treasurer for all…”

Comment by SangamoGOP Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:01 am
As the old saying goes, “they’re all line drives in the score book”. A win is a win. A lot of people voted for Mike. He is the victor, no matter the margin. A close race can make for a more thoughtful and conscientious official. His remarks are kind and not at all gloating. He’s getting to work. I don’t think it means anything in terms of party hullabaloo. Rauner worked hard to get supporters to vote by mail; absentee. Many others will follow suit now. It appears that Rauner’s efforts helped Mike. I suspect Mike may privately thank him for that today. The irony of Illinois politics really knows no bounds.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:02 am
Mike Frerichs can decide today how much he wants to be @FakeMikeFrerichs or be seen as a real constitutional officer.

His. Choice.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:06 am
Yeah Sangamo GOP, right back at ya, I see a ton of true blue Dems on the Rauner transition team…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:15 am
In a race this close there are as many right answers as to way made the difference in the race as their are capitolfax readers.

Why? Because in a race this close, everything did matter.

It wasn’t one thing, it was everything.

And so, I think you have to give credit to Frerichs all around, not just to his campaign, but to him particularly as an individual.

And that is not certainly to take anything away from Tom Cross or his campaign.

In a year where Mike Madigan holds on to a supermajority, for the former House Republican leader to come as close as he did to victory, he pretty much had to do everything right too.

It was a great campaign, but no campaign is a perfect campaign, and it is a race folks should be studying, analyzing and thinking about.

Because races like this, those that come down to less than two votes per precinct, are where even understanding the tiniest detail gives you the edge.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:17 am
Y Dog, it’s been a while since I could agree with you with completeness. At this moment in time; I do.

Comment by A guy... Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:20 am
- YDD -,

He won, it’s his day. Congratulations.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:26 am
Loop Lady, respectfully, if you don’t see Dems on the policy team, you aren’t looking.

Comment by LincolnLounger Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 11:28 am
For a little Champaign County political trivia, Frerichs first won a seat in the state senate over former state senator Judy Meyers in 2006 by only 542 votes (or, a difference of .98%). Seems that pulling off the nail-bitters is Mike’s calling card.

Surprised none of the stories mentioned this little fact. Like someone else said here, it’ll soon be forgotten how close this race was, just who ended up winning in the end.

Comment by Law Dude Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:05 pm
A little sympathy for former Blagojevich chief-counsel Bill Quinlan. Wondered what had become of him and it was certainly one of the more bizarre moments of the 2014 campaign when he emerged on television as a lawyer for Tom Cross - and to see he was as unprepared and befuddled as ever.

Comment by Willie Stark Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:44 pm
Good to see Mike Carrigan on the transition team. A little recognition of organized Labor’s efforts.

As a member of AFSCME Retirees Chapt 68 I can tell you we would have pawned our canes and walkers to help Mike.

Comment by John Birch Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:56 pm
Lincoln Lounger: To clarify: respectfully, there are a few, not a ton…it peeves me when someone passes judgement on someone before they have had a chance to do the right thing…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:58 pm
=== we would have pawned our canes and walkers to help Mike. ===

That is awesome. Thankfully, it did not come to that.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 12:59 pm
With respect to the Treasurer’s “transition team,” c’mon, the office is pretty small, the transition team is pretty small. He’s not taking over the entire exec branch, just a twig. With three members (the chairs are pretty busy with their day jobs), what role would a Republican serve, and who would be willing to “stain” their party credentials?

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 2:34 pm
I have never met anyone who had a bad thing to say about Paul Miller. That is a smart addition.

Comment by The Captain Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 3:02 pm
I am deeply troubled that a substantial number of the votes that State Treasurer-Elect Michael Frerichs obtained between Election Day and yesterday were the result of same-day registration and voting and mail-in voting. These pilot programs were clearly inteded to target traditionally Democratic groups and help Democrats. I witnessed this first-hand a various polling place. These election results are highly probelmatic in my mind.

Comment by Black Ivy Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:11 pm
Big shout out to Zach Koutsky!

He did a great job on the campaign trail and is well deserving of that spot on the transition team. And on staff come January.

Comment by WappySprayberry Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 4:58 pm
Dear Black Ivy:

They weren’t problematic in the mind of the Illinois Republican Party, who monitored the counting of every single ballot.

I don’t recall any Republicans objecting to the thousands of ballots cast in Tom Cross’s favor.

And I think it is a pretty thin conspiracy theory to suggest that the Chicago Board of Elections was stuffing the ballot box with Rauner-Skopek ballots while Republican County Clerks in DuPage, Lake, and all across downstate were stuffing ballot boxes with Rauner-Frerichs ballots.

Perhaps you can get Mel Gibson to star in the film version of your tale. Who knows, maybe Mel Gibson will direct?

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 6:29 pm
@ Black Ivy (or should I say “Sen. Kirk”) -

Bruce Rauner, no doubt, benefited from the exact same-day registration and other voter rights you complain about.

Put a sock in it.

We should be expanding voters rights, not diminishing them. You must be a citizen to vote, and only one vote per person as this entire Cross v Frerichs election illustrated.

Both parties had lawyers and volunteers observing the vote tallying process, in both traditionally Republican and traditionally Democratic counties.

Frerichs did better than even he expected not only downstate but also in the collar counties and Chicago suburbs.

Imagine that. The guy with the most votes won.

Comment by A. Nonymous Thursday, Nov 20, 14 @ 6:43 pm
@Black Ivy

So basically your guy lost so you are raising the issue of voter fraud. The Republicans were all over the vote counting. I think if they thought there was a significant issue they would not have let it simply slide by.

But you go ahead and question the election results if it makes you feel better. I have zero doubts about the integrity of the election.

Comment by Demoralized Friday, Nov 21, 14 @ 8:20 am