Romney wins big in Illinois GOP primary

 Jackson and Duckworth trample opponents

 

By Juanita Bratcher

 

Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney won an “extraordinary” victory in the Illinois GOP primary Tuesday, way ahead of his closest challenger Rick Santorum, and leaving Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul in single digits.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Romney garnered 428, 434 votes, 47%; Santorum, 321,079, 35%; Paul, 85, 464, 9%; and Gingrich, 72,942, 8%.

Romney, speaking to supporters at the Renaissance Hotel Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL, thanked the people of Illinois for their overwhelming support.

“Thank you Illinois, what a night,” Romney declared to fans after his huge win in the Illinois GOP primary. Tonight we thank the people of Illinois for their vote and for this extraordinary victory.”

Pushing his “Economic Freedom” agenda – trying to make a drawback on his 25 years in business, Romney took an obvious pot shot at President Barack Obama when saying, “You can’t learn that teaching Constitutional law at the University of Chicago. You can’t even learn that as a community organizer.”

Yet, Romney during his campaign, for the most part, has talked about what the Obama Administration hasn’t done or failed to do, never discussing any “real issues” – his agenda for the country and what he will do, if elected president.

Secondly, President Obama has made inroads in bringing back an unstable economy without any help from Washington Republicans, and the fact still remains that a Republican Administration was in office when the economy was driven into the ditch.

On another note, U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson made a resounding victory in Tuesday’s Primary Election rolling over his opponent Debbie Halvorson, a former state senator and one-term Congressman. Halvorson was booted out of the Congress in 2010. Jackson got 55,118 votes, 71.2% and Halvorson, 22, 336, 28.8 percent.

Said Jackson to his supporters: “This victory may be the most meaningful of all of them.”

Tammy Duckworth trounced opponent Raja Krishnamoorthi in the 8^th Congressional District race and will face Republican Congressman Joe Walsh in the General Election. Duckworth garnered 16,830 votes, 66.6%, to Krishnamoorthi’s 8,438, 33.4%.

Other winners in Tuesday’s election were Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown. Brown defeated challenger Ricardo Munoz.

State Rep. Monique Davis (27^th Legislative District), 10,329 to challenger’s Preston Brown, 3,634; State Senators Mattie Hunter (District 3); Kwame Raoul (13^th), Emil Jones (14^th), Jacqueline Collins (16), and Donne Trotter (17^th), all uncontested.

State Representatives Mary Flowers (District 31), Marlow Colvin (33), and Elgie Sims (34), were all winners and all uncontested.