Republican venture capitalist Bruce Rauner posted a strong lead Tuesday early in the primary race to face incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn in the fall general election.
But as the night wore on, State Sen. Kirk Dillard rebounded from a 9-point deficit to a margin of only 3 percentage points behind.
Labor organizations had backed Dillard for a period, but they pulled their overt support recently.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, State Sen. Bill Brady and outgoing State Treasurer Dan Rutherford were very far behind and had conceded the election.
Rauner 325,792 (40%)
Dillard 302,920 (37%)
Brady 122,762 (15%)
Rutherford 61,447 (8%)
With 99 percent of statewide precincts reporting, Quinn has been predicted as winner of the Democratic nomination for Governor by several news organizations.
The incumbent and his running mate Paul Vallas defeated anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman and his running mate Brunell Donald by a wide margin. The unofficial returns show Quinn's ticket with roughly a three-to-one margin over the challengers.
The unoffical vote count is:
Quinn/Vallas 314,085 (72%)
Hardiman/Donald 122,868 (28%)