ELECTION DAY LIVE BLOG
A sign in front of a polling place in Urbana.
3:15 A.M.
2:52 A.M.
AP calls the 10th District seat in Congress for Democrat Brad Schneider after Lake County votes are added late.
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12:01 A.M.
Good morning.
11:56 P.M.
11:46 P.M.
Two likely GOP State House pickups in southern Illinois.
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11:15 P.M.
Republican David Overstreet has declared victory in the southern Illinois Supreme Court race. Tribune shows him leading 63%-37%.
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Congressional update:
Ives leads Casten
Davis leads Londrigan
Underwood leads Oberweis
Bustos up ~900 on King
Long way to go.
7:53 P.M.
No surprise here, Sen. Dick Durbin wins re-election to the U.S. Senate. With 9% of the expected vote in, the AP says he has around 56% of the vote.
Durbin statement:
“To those who supported my election: thank you for once again trusting me to represent you, your family and our home state of Illinois. It is an honor. And for those who were on the other side, thank you for your participation in our election. I pledge that I will listen honestly to your thoughts and work with you to bind the wounds of our nation.
“Now we have work to do to vanquish this virus and rebuild our broken economy. I am ready for the challenge.”
7:00 P.M.
Polls are closed. Let’s do this thing.
6:45 P.M.
Lake County Clerk Robin O'Connor says they don't give out Sharpies. I'm calling “Sharpiegate” a dud.
5:30 P.M.
This is looking like a non-issue. I'm told Chicago Board of Elections used the same system this spring with no issues. None of the ovals on side A would correspond with ovals on side B.
So, yeah, sounds like a bunch of know-nothings whining on Twitter.
5:10 P.M.
Sharpie issue clarification from Cook County Deputy Clerk John Mirkovic:
“Our ballots are designed so that ovals on each side of the page don't overlap so this is not an issue for us. We are not spoiling ballots if a voter used a Sharpie.”
Still awaiting comment from Chicago Board of Elections and DuPage and Lake County Clerks.
5:00 P.M.
From the Associated Press:
Voters in Illinois made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country’s direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.
The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 31% of Illinois voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 69% of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.
4:55 P.M.
There's been a lot of chatter on social media (take it for what it's worth) about Sharpie style marker pens causing issues with ballots, specifically in Chicago or the Cook County suburbs.
I asked another former election official if there's anything to it and the answer was an unequivocal “no.” The bleed would have to match a circle on the opposite side of the ballot. Not easy as they don't mirror perfectly. I've reahed out to the Cook County Clerk's office for more information.
4:30 P.M.
I'm told both Rep. Terra Costa-Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) and Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont) are either knocking on doors or greeting voters at polls until late in the afternoon. Running through the tape.
2:35 P.M.
Not a good look for Congressman Sean Casten. Ives provided audio, I don't have confirmation Casten said it, but it does sound like him.
12:30 P.M.
It's halftime! Turnout appears brisk as we call around the state. Maybe more enthusiasm in southern Illinois than in other parts of the state, but that's me trying to read between the lines.
If you're wondering, Governor Pritzker voted by mail this year.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Collinsville), who is retiring after 12-terms in Congress, voted early in person.
Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) voted early in person last Saturday in his hometown. He says his wait was 25 minutes.
(Disclosure: I worked on Davis' campaign in 2012.)
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) put her mail-in ballot in a dropbox last month.
Senator Dick Durbin voted early in person in Springfield in September.
We've asked around to see how other notable officials submitted their vote.
11:05 A.M.
Just heard from McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael. She says “steady to high” turnout, especially in rural precincts. She also says a lot of ISU students are registering at the polls today, which could have an impact on the Rodney Davis/Betsy Londrigan race.
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich says there were some scattered reports of polling places not opening on time or some technical issues with digital signature books, etc, but nothing major.
If you missed The Illinoize newsletter this morning, you can read it here. You can also click the subscribe button up on the top right of the screen if you’d like to get it sent directly to your inbox.
9:00 A.M.
We’ve talked a lot about how this could be a bad day for suburban Republicans, but I hear a lot of optimism from GOP folks in southern Illinois.
Here’s what one had to say about how polarizing Democratic Governor JB Pritzker is down south:
“He’s as polarizing here as Trump is in the suburbs.”
A lot of GOP predictions that Republican David Friess will beat appointed Rep. Nathan Reitz (D-Steelville) and that Republican Amy Elik will beat Rep. Monica Bristow (D-Alton). They’re also confident Republican Supreme Court candidate David Overstreet will beat Democrat Judy Cates. We were told polls had that one neck-and-neck, but that was before Citizens for Judicial Fairness jumped in with a scathing negative ad against Cates.
Also, I live in a “Tier One” State House district. I counted up last night that I received 55 pieces of mail in just the Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont)/Michelle Darbro race alone.
6:00 A.M.
Good morning, and welcome to our first ever Election Day live blog!
Please feel free to send us your tips and updates throughout the day. If you walk up to your polling place and see a line, snap a photo and send it to us at patrick@theillinoize.com.
If you see a candidate, say hello, snap a selfie and send it to us.
In the meantime, here are some new stories for you: