All the DC pundits and party leaders had it completely wrong.
With 200,702 votes counted, Joe Walsh is up by 553 votes with 100% of the precincts reported. This is before any late absentee ballots (which seem likely to favor him) or the final resolution of any provisional ballots.
- Joe Walsh 97,403 49%
- Melissa Bean 96,850 48%
- Bill Scheurer 6,449 3%
Although Melissa Bean hasn't officially conceded yet, and probably won't until the bitter end of the vote count, Joe Walsh seems to have won despite:
- virtually no party leadership support (endorsements or money contributed or spent to help him)
- virtually no PAC support ($8,099 as of 10/13, versus $1,228,118 for Melissa Bean)
- all the local media endorsements for Melissa Bean
- far less money ($428,842 as of 10/13, mostly raised in small amounts from local donors in the district)
compared to Melissa Bean, who raised $1,995,576 - mostly from outside of this district
Here's the OpenSecrets.org data for the race to substantiate the above difference in fundraising... http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=IL08& cycle=2010
The DCCC poured $1 million into Illinois at the end of the campaign to try to help Dan Seals in the 10th (who lost) and Bill Foster in the 14th (who also lost). They reportedly didn't give anything to Melissa Bean this time. She apparently never took Joe Walsh, or the voters of this district, seriously.
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Previous posts: Melissa Bean still in the bunker, won't concede, Bean's $25 Million Earmarks in 2010, Rep Melissa Bean IL8 Sends in the thug, Unclean Melissa Bean, Walsh: Melissa Bean, Math Challenged, You can't come home again, Melissa Bean, Meli$$a Bean'$ Co$tly $cheme, Melissa Bean Meets Constituents in Noisy Grocery Store, Melissa Bean Still Clutching Dirty Rangel $$$
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