Bruce Rauner won the Illinois Republican primary over two state senators Tuesday in a race that featured social conservatives teaming up with communists to try to defeat what they considered to be a socially moderate capitalist. While Republican turnout was almost twice that of the Democrats, it isn’t known how much of that vote came from Democrats crossing over to support a weaker candidate.
In a state with about 7.5 million registered voters, about 1.25 million voted in the primary for governor, or 17% turnout. That’s a little higher than my estimate of 15%, but still dreadful.
| R | Rauner | 325,792 | 40.1% |
| R | Dillard | 302,920 | 37.3% |
| R | Brady | 122,762 | 15.1% |
| R | Rutherford | 61,447 | 7.6% |
| D | Quinn* | 314,085 | 71.9% |
| D | Hardiman | 122,868 | 28.1% |
* incumbent
The Marxist-led Illinois Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO) and the left-leaning Illinois Education Association (NEA) both supported Dillard, urging their members to “cross over” from their usual place in the Democratic Party machine. Both unions are alleged to have illegally organized teachers during school time.