CHICAGO, March 20 (UPI) -- Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., overcame a poor showing in Chicago and its suburbs to eke out a narrow victory over former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas and capture the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Tuesday's Illinois primary.
Attorney General Jim Ryan posted a convincing victory on the Republican side, besting conservative legislator Patrick O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood.
The results set up a general election contest between two former Golden Gloves champions, prompting some wags to dub the November gubernatorial campaign a heavyweight championship bout.
On the Democratic side, with 96 percent of the vote counted, Blagojevich led Vallas 37 percent to 34 percent. Burris trailed with 29 percent. For the Republicans, Ryan captured 45 percent of the vote, compared to 28 percent for O'Malley and 27 percent for Wood.
Blagojevich, the son-in-law of powerful Chicago Alderman Dick Mell, who had the backing of the Chicago Democratic machine, ran a dismal third in Chicago behind former Attorney General and Comptroller Roland Burris, the first black ever elected to statewide office, and Vallas, who dominated the suburban vote. In conceding, Burris said this campaign was his last.
During the campaign, Blagojevich emphasized his background as the son of Serbian-immigrant, working-class parents and attacked Vallas for the budget decisions he made as head of the Chicago school system, once called the worst in the United States.
While the votes still were being tabulated, Vallas came out to talk with supporters.
"My father is in the church lighting candles. So far he has lighted about 500," Vallas quipped.
Ryan, who has survived several bouts with cancer, moved directly into the general election campaign, calling for unity among Republicans and pledging to "take our state in new directions."
"I see Illinois as a state that lives within its means, a state that welcomes new ideas, not new taxes," Ryan said, also promising to restore confidence in state government.
O'Malley, however, said he could not support a Ryan candidacy.
Gov. George Ryan, who decided not to seek re-election because of an ongoing investigation into a license-selling scandal in the secretary of state's office while he held that post, became an issue in the Republican primary. O'Malley pitted himself against the outgoing incumbent's record and likened Jim Ryan to the current governor. O'Malley accused Jim Ryan of overlooking the wrongdoing in the secretary of state's office and ran a commercial in which pictures of the two Ryans morphed back and forth into each other.
The governor lashed out at O'Malley and his right-wing supporters, saying they're not serious about actually winning the nomination and "probably wouldn't know what to do with it if they did win." He suggested the far-right wing of the party separate from the mainstream GOP and form its own party.
Some 7 million Illinois residents were registered to vote. Turnout was pegged at less than 30 percent.
Votes from Chicago and Cook County were counted at a record clip. New equipment designed to alert voters to errors on their ballots tabulated the results as they came in, speeding the reporting process.
In other races:
State Rep. Jim Durkin captured the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Richard Durbin, setting up a Durkin-Durbin contest for November. Durkin defeated dairy owner James Oberweiss and investment banker John Cox. Incumbent Durbin ran without opposition. Durkin captured 47 percent of the vote to Oberweiss' 30 percent and Cox's 23 percent.
Former Clinton administration staffer Rahm Emanuel captured the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District, defeating community activist Nancy Kaszak 51 percent to 49 percent. The race, the most expensive in Illinois with the candidates spending $1 million, was tainted by anti-Semitic remarks.
In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Luis Guitierrez faced the strongest challenge of any sitting congressman but managed to capture the nomination, handily defeating community activist Martin Castro, 68 percent to 22 percent.
Lisa Madigan, the daughter of powerful state House Speaker Mike Madigan, captured the Democratic nomination for attorney general, handily defeating former Associate U.S. Attorney General John Schmidt, 59 percent to 41 percent. On the Republican side, DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett topped attorney Bob Coleman, 47 percent to 30 percent, despite a series of entertaining commercials Coleman ran poking fun at his political inexperience. Late in the race, Birkett parodied a Coleman spot in which Coleman wrestled with screaming babies. The Birkett spot ended by saying children like him.
