Quinn to run on Democratic ticket

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Gov. Pat Quinn has been declared the victor of Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

About 39 hours after the polls closed Tuesday, Quinn’s rival, Comptroller Dan Hynes, called Quinn to congratulate him and concede defeat.

“The people have spoken and the votes have been counted, and I’m here to report that we rose up, and fell just a little short,” Hynes said in a concession speech to his supporters Thursday morning.

Hynes said he did the correct thing by waiting to concede.

“We made sure all the votes were counted, and now we know for sure,” he said. “That wasn’t us.”

Hynes then urged his supporters to do “the right thing.”

“After the past few years in our state, after so much turmoil, conflict and strife, let us choose peace,” he said.

Hynes told his supporters he had called Quinn and pledged his support.

“It’s true that we had a few disagreements in this campaign, but that’s what happens during a spirited discussion about our future,” he said. “I’ve never doubted the governor’s commitment to the people of Illinois.”

After an emotional thank-you to his family, Hynes concluded by saying the state’s future is limitless because it is bound up in the unyielding fabric of its people.

“When we hear about people’s anger or frustration or disappointments, that what we want is something very basic,” he said. “A government that grows from the fabric we already share, that reflects who we are and acts that way, with common sense and responsibility, honesty and compassion.”

On the Republican ticket, the race for the top of the ticket remained too tight to call. With 100 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Bill Brady had 155,263 votes, or 20.3 percent to Kirk Dillard’s 154,857 votes, and neither man had conceded.

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