While Chicago media focused on Robin Kelly’s landslide victory in Tuesday’s Democrat primary, after they blatantly ignored the GOP primary throughout the campaign, the Republican race to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District was the thriller on Tuesday. It appears the underdog Paul McKinley has sealed a victory as the GOP nominee in the April 9 general election.
McKinley has openly campaigned throughout the election as an “ex-offender, trying to prevent a next offender,” and received overwhelming support across all of the 2nd district’s diverse communities.
From the more rural, conservative southern end of the district to the heart of “The Machine,” as he calls it–inside Reverend Wright’s old Trinity United Church–McKinley has received standing ovations for railing against the Chicago Machine.
The Chicago Tribune shows 0.4% of precincts still unaccounted for at the time of this writing; however, all county boards and Chicago’s Board of Election websites appear to have the final data published.
The vote counts–added up across the Kankakee, Cook, and Will County Board of Elections and the Chicago Board of Elections–show McKinley squeaking out a narrow 23-vote victory against fellow Republican Dr. Eric M. Wallace. Total vote counts show 955 votes for McKinley and 932 for Wallace.
McKinley’s campaign released a statement claiming victory in the primary and, he was quick to attack New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $2.3 million in the Democrat primary in support of the anti-gun extremist Robin Kelly over pro-Second Amendment Democrat Debbie Halvorson. Kelly has stated publicly she is “all for banning guns” and will lead on that issue.
McKinley said in his release, “Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t have enough money to pay off the broke, busted, and disgusted and manipulate the people’s will. If Mayor Bloomberg thinks he can come and buy the general election, he’s going to have to go through the American people.”
McKinley’s full press release:
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