Polls are now closed in Illinois, where voters are casting ballots both in the Republican presidential primary and in downballot races throughout the state. We'll be liveblogging the results as they come in, with a heavy emphasis on the congressional contests.
Results: AP: House | House (by county) | Pres | Pres (by county)
CNN | Google | Politico (House) | Politico (Pres) | County Election Boards (PDF)
7:49 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Let's briefly get caught up on the Illinois primaries. Of course, at the presidential level, it wound up being a clear win for Mitt Romney, though it has tightened a bit with time. With 84 percent reporting statewide, the Romney lead is 12 percent (47-35), with Gingrich and Paul in single digits.
On the House level, meanwhile, the big story is the still-uncalled battle of the incumbents in IL-16. With 81 percent of the vote in, Adam Kinzinger still holds a 55-45 lead over Donald Manzullo. On the Democratic side, three big primary battles have already been called: IL-02 (for incumbent Jesse Jackson Jr.), IL-08 (for Tammy Duckworth) and IL-10 (for Brad Schneider). IL-13 is the last high-profile primary left wanting, and state's attorney Matt Goetten still holds a slight lead (52-48) over physician and multi-time House candidate David Gill.
7:51 PM PT (Steve Singiser): In New York state, meanwhile, two Assembly districts have officially flipped, with each party claiming a pickup. In AD-100, the AP has just called the race for Democrat Frank Skartados, who held the seat from 2009-2011. Meanwhile, in the Buffalo 'burbs (AD-145), the GOP broke back with a win by Republican Mickey Kearns.
7:56 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Those New York special legislative elections might have some implications for November, and not just in the lege. The GOP pickup was in the district of first-term Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul, who has to be a bit alarmed by that rather easy win for Kearns (57-43). Conversely, the GOP has to be worried that the Democrats easily picked up (63-37, at last check) one seat in the Hudson Valley, and are within an eyelash of possibly snagging a second one. With 80 percent in, Republican Richard Wager is up by just 119 votes over Democrat Didi Barrett. One has to imagine that GOP frosh Reps. Christopher Gibson and Nan Hayworth are watching that with some apprehension.
8:04 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Ha! I had forgotten about this! It looks like, in New York, it is actually a Democrat +1 in the Assembly, because the Republican winner in AD-145 is ... wait for it ... a Democrat. Kearns, who won 57-43, ran on the GOP line after seeking, and not receiving, the endorsement of the Democrats. He will caucus with the Democrats, but cast a vote against Democrat Sheldon Silver for Speaker.
8:06 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Take one more downballot race off the "undecided" list, though it is far from a surprise. The AP calls the Democratic primary in IL-11 for former Democratic Rep. Bill Foster, who is seeking a second act in Congress by challenging longtime GOP Rep. Judy Biggert in a much more amenable district for Democrats. He wins with 57 percent of the vote in a three-man primary.
8:08 PM PT (Steve Singiser): ...And the biggest race on the House docket tonight in the Land of Lincoln is a done deal. AP calls IL-16 (GOP) for freshman Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who still leads longtime Rep. Donald Manzullo 56-44. The aftermath of this particular battle ought to be very interesting.
8:10 PM PT (Steve Singiser): One gets the sense that the AP is behind the actual counting here (at least, based on my Twitter feed), but AP has about a quarter of the vote in over in New York's SD-27, and they have Republican David Storobin up 55-45 over Democrat Lew Fidler.
8:15 PM PT: What is with the ganja break in NY-SD-27? Not, I would expect, a district with a high concentration of stoners.
8:16 PM PT (Steve Singiser): The AP has made a few more calls, though none of them surprising, so let's just toss them out in a quick list:
- IL-03 (R): Richard Grabowski
- IL-06 (D): Leslie Coolidge
- IL-12 (R): Jason Plummer
- IL-17 (D): Cheri Bustos
8:17 PM PT (Steve Singiser):
DRAMA IN #SD27! 64% REPORTING: LEW FIDLER 6597, DAVID STOROBIN 6522 #NYSENATE
— @DNDailyPolitics via web
8:20 PM PT (Steve Singiser):
#SD27 UPDATE: 79% REPORTING: FIDLER 8286, STOROBIN 8059
— @DNDailyPolitics via web
8:23 PM PT: PPP has a post up apologizing for their IL-10 poll which missed the mark considerably and explaining what they think went wrong. While I'm sure the firm's implacable critics will just use this to harsh on PPP even more, there frankly aren't a whole lot of pollsters anywhere near this candid.
8:25 PM PT (Steve Singiser): Wow... Dueling tweets out of SD-27. The New York Daily News just posted a tweet showing Storobin moving ahead by less than a hundred votes with 84 percent counted. But, city councilman David Greenfield just tweeted that Democrat Lew Fidler is declaring victory, saying he is up a couple hundred votes with almost everything counted. Guess we will know soon enough.
8:34 PM PT: The fun continues in the next thread.