City, County Voters Stayed Away From Polls; Sun Sets In West

By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 6, 2014 5:30PM

Photo credit: Brian Kersey/Getty Images

We wrote yesterday about Gov. Pat Quinn’s low margin for error if he had any chance of being re-elected; essentially Quinn needed to repeat the voter trends from 2010 when Chicago and Cook County voters headed to the polls and carried him to victory over Bill Brady.

In 2014, Quinn’s unpopularity and a campaign that never seemed to catch fire were his major obstacles and that sealed his fate with voters in the city and suburbs. Voter turnout for Tuesday’s general election was 7 percent less than four years ago, while the turnout in suburban Cook County decreased by 6.5 percent. Coupled with Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner’s strong showing in Cook and the collar counties, Quinn’s path to victory was effectively shattered.

Quinn received 40,000 fewer votes in Chicago this year compared to 2010, while Rauner outperformed Brady’s 2010 Chicago numbers by 9,000 votes. That’s a strong performance for a city that has voted Democratic for all of our lives and, a Chicago magazine’s Whet Moser noted, “equivalent to a decent-sized downstate county.”

Rauner’s appeal among Chicago voters was so strong he actually won the 42nd Ward. The Loop, Streeterville, River North and parts of the Near West Side fall within the ward’s boundaries. Rauner almost won the 43rd Ward in which Lincoln Park falls.