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Last updated 11:43 am CT September 02, 2010.
Candidates Land in Marion on Final Campaign Swings
Polls don't show a clear frontrunner on either the Republican or Democrat ballot. The primary election is Tuesday.
For State Sen. Bill Brady the quick stop was a chance to remind voters he’s the only candidate on the Republican ballot that’s not from the Chicago area.
"The people of Illinois need a little dose of downstate mentality and we're going to give it to them tomorrow and then in November aren't we?" he said to a terminal full of backers who gathered at the airport.
The hope is pressing some flesh will be enough to make the difference in a crowded field.
“Our tracking poll has shown that it’s become a close race and every vote is going to count,” Brady said. His campaign’s research shows Brady and State Sen. Kirk Dillard at the top of the GOP heap.
Research by Public Policy Polling released on January 26 showed Dillard in the lead. The Chicago Tribune/WGN poll released on January 22 showed former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna in the lead.
Brady appeared in the middle of the pack of six candidates in both polls.
McKenna has proven money matters. He’s spent his own money on campaign ads that have helped him move up in the polls.
Considering the number of candidates in the Republican race political commentator Dan Proft insists poll numbers don’t matter and ideas do.
He points to Scott Brown’s come-from-behind win in the Massachusetts race for U.S. Senate. The republican surged late on voter dissatisfaction to beat an establishment candidate from the other party and take the seat Democrat Teddy Kennedy held for decades.
“I don’t think the folks that are going to lead the revolution for Illinois are the ones who have been in Springfield for fifteen years going along to get along with Chicago democrats,” Proft said.
In such a crowded race, Proft believes face-to-face meetings with voters could make the difference.
"If my folks come out and we get some late deciders I think we could surprise some people in this state. This thing is far from over," he predicted during his approximately thirty-minute stop at the airport.
Political newcomer Adam Andrzejewski and former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan fill out the field of republicans.
The Democratic race for governor could come down to the wire. Polls show Comptroller Dan Hynes has closed the once-sizable gap between him and Governor Pat Quinn. The Public Policy Poll shows Hynes with a 41-40 lead.
The Hynes campaign ads have been effective. He hit Quinn early on his plan to raise taxes and followed up with series slamming Quinn’s early release program for prisoners.
Another ad, which ran in Chicago, featured the late Harold Washington, the city’s first African American mayor, explaining that he fired Quinn because he was a poor manager.
"[Hynes has] spent millions of bucks on attack ads telling people here that I'm not a loving son of a loving mother," Quinn told about three dozen supporters when he landed in Marion.
Quinn has used a last-minute tour of the state to tout new funding and remind people of building projects that broke ground under his watch last year. He's hoping to win back some goodwill from voters.
"Tomorrow [Hynes is] counting on those ads to win the election. I'm counting on you," Quinn said, echoing his latest commercial.
By Dana Jay
djay@wsiltv.com
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