State Sen. Kirk Dillard will concede during a press conference this afternoon, according to his spokesman.
After a month of waiting for official results, the Illinois State Board of Elections certified that state Sen. Bill Brady emerged less than 195 votes ahead of Dillard in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
Dillard had said he would consider a recount if the final vote count was within a margin of 100.
"He'll be expected not only to concede but to throw his full support behind Brady," said Wes Bleed, Dillard's spokesman.
Earlier, Bleed had said that if U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk had picked up a significant number of votes in the last count, Dillard might also consider a recount in that situation.
Kirk is considered a moderate Republican, like Dillard, so voters who supported him can reasonably be expected to support Dillard as well.
Dillard's expected concession will mark the end of a stalemate that has left both Republican candidates unable to move forward with a full-on campaign against Democratic nominee Gov. Pat Quinn.
Quinn has consistently polled better than Brady — much better than he would if he were running against Dillard. While polls show the incumbent governor would win the race right now, he would have had a harder time beating the more moderate Republican.
Windy Citizen 