With Election Day Here, Candidates Make One Last Push For Votes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It all comes down to this. With just hours left to win the support of voters, the two leading candidates for governor were making their final pitches to win votes Tuesday morning, greeting potential voters face-to-face.
Gov. Pat Quinn was at Galewood Community Church near his Austin neighborhood home to cast his ballot shortly after 11 a.m. He visited Millennium Station downtown earlier in the day to greet commuters, and remind them to vote if they hadn't done so already.
Quinn has been running on the platform of raising the state's minimum wage.
"It's a special day. It's a blessing from God to have democracy."
Republican challenger Bruce Rauner voted earlier in the day in his hometown of Winnetka, at Sacred Heart Parish. He and his wife, Diana, voted on paper ballots, which took a bit longer than expected. Rauner seemed calm and optimistic after filling out his ballot.
"We need to go in a new direction. We need big change in Springfield. We look forward to bringing good government here to Illinois," Rauner said.
While many people had already voted by the time they ran into some of the politicians out stumping Tuesday morning, that didn't stop candidates from trying to buttonhole commuters on their way to work.
In between the mad rush of commuters getting off trains and racing to the exit at Millennium Station stood several politicians, including Quinn, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
"I think you're trying to avoid us," Madigan joked as several commuters passed them by.
Some commuters made Walter Payton-like cutbacks to avoid the politicians and continue to their destination, but some stopped to shake hands and say hello.
"I've never seen them before, but they really need our votes," one woman said.
Almost to a person, people said this year's campaign ads were off-the-charts for negativity, although that didn't necessarily stop them from voting.