Election roundup

Kane County went blue this year in a big way. In 2004, Kane gave George W. Bush 81,302 votes to 58,673 for John Kerry. This year it went 84,701 votes for Barack Obama and only 74,516 for John McCain. Is this a permanent realignment? It could be.

Democrats defeated Republicans in other local races:

Kane County Board member and Judson University professor John Noverini defeated Judge Patricia Golden for the judgeship of the 2nd Subcircuit of the 16th Judicial Circuit:

Noverini defeated incumbent Circuit Judge Patricia Piper Golden 16,573-14,750 in the race for the 16th Judicial Circuit’s 2nd Subcircuit, according to unofficial results from Kane County Clerk John A. Cunningham’s office. (St. Charles Sun)

Keith Farnham defeated Ruth Munson for the 43rd District seat of the Illinois General Assembly:

With 67 of 67 precincts reporting, Democrat challenger Farnham went home with a 322-vote edge over incumbent Republican Ruth Munson.

“I walked five months, seven days a week. That makes a difference, especially against an incumbent,” said Farnham, a Navy veteran. (Daily Herald)

Bill Foster soundly defeated Jim Oberweis:

Unofficial vote totals showed Foster appeared headed for victory with 519 of 573 precincts reporting. Indeed, challenger Jim Oberweis called Foster to concede two hours after the polls closed. Foster was unofficially ahead with 167,334 votes to 124,276 for Oberweis shortly after the concession. That represents a 57 percent to 43 percent margin of victory, even better than the 5 percentage point win with which Foster fended off Oberweis in March. (Daily Herald)

Melissa Bean crushed Republican challenger Steve Greenberg:

U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean’s campaign strategy of sticking to the high road and virtually ignoring her opponent paid off Tuesday as she appeared headed to a third term in Congress.

Bean, a Barrington Democrat, easily beat Republican challenger Steve Greenberg in the 8th District, unofficial vote totals show. With ballots in 518 of 522 precincts counted, Bean had 175,283 votes, or nearly 61 percent, to Greenberg’s 113,707votes. (Daily Herald)

The Kane County officers all held onto their seats with comfortable margins of victory. None of the Democratic challengers could do better than 40%. And people did vote. Karen McConnaughay, for example, got 83,369 votes. That’s nearly as many votes as Obama got in Kane County. The implication is that Republicans were voting for Obama. A LOT of “Republicans” were voting for Obama.

One bright red spot in a blue day: 27 year-old Aaron Schock of Peoria will become the youngest serving member of Congress. Thank you, Aaron.

Possibly related posts:

• Election day open thread
• Primary election results
• Elgin election results
• Special election is Saturday
• What are Bill Foster’s chances?