Marathon Pundit: IL 8: All votes counted--Republican Walsh leads by 291 votes: UPDATED, Bean concedes

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

IL 8: All votes counted--Republican Walsh leads by 291 votes: UPDATED, Bean concedes

Republican Joe Walsh, pictured on the right while speaking at a Morton Grove Tea Party, still leads incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean in Illinois' 8th Congressional District. All of the votes have been counted, and the Daily Herald reports that Walsh leads Bean by 291 votes--out of nearly 200,000 cast.

Bean, who calls her self a fiscal conservative, voted for the stimulus bill, cap and trade, and ObamaCare.

I suppose it's possible Bean will call for a recount, but let's call this a sweet win for the Illinois GOP: four House pick ups.

Walsh received no Republican National Committee financial help in his effort.

Bean should do the honorable thing and concede now. She was less-then-honorable when she refused to hold town hall meetings in the run-up to the ObamaCare vote.

UPDATE 10:00pm CST: In an email to his supporters, Walsh says that Rep. Bean has conceded. Good for her for not dragging this out. Also, Republican Nationa Chairman Michael Steele, who brought the Fire Pelosi bus to the 8th for a Walsh rally, released the following statement:]

I would like to congratulate Representative-elect Joe Walsh for his victory today in Illinois' 8th District Congressional race. Although it took a few weeks to count all the votes, Illinoisans made their voices heard that they will no longer tolerate the reckless big government, tax and spend policies in Washington. Joe will fight for the people of Illinois to stop the big government policies championed by Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Democrats, and work to lower taxes and control spending in Washington.