Dan McConchie leads close 26th Illinois Senate race, not declaring victory yet

Though he was leading a tight three-way race in the 26th Illinois Senate District Republican primary, Dan McConchie was not ready to declare victory on Wednesday afternoon.

The McHenry County Clerk's Office said only mail-in and late provisional ballots were left to be counted, McConchie said he was not sure how many votes would still be coming in.

McConchie unofficially received 36.6 of recorded votes as of 1:30 pm. Wednesday, with all Cook, Kane and Lake county precincts reporting.

"Personally, I like to make sure that everything is set," McConchie said. "That's my personality."

Casey Urlacher was in second place with 32.8 percent of the vote, and Martin McLaughlin had taken 30.6 percent.

The winner of the primary will run unopposed in November unless the Democratic Party gathers the signatures needed to caucus in an opponent.

Republican Sen. Dan Duffy, the incumbent, is limiting himself to two terms in office. Duffy endorsed McConchie in the race.

McConchie, a Hawthorn Woods resident, is vice president of government affairs for Americans United For Life. He served eight years in the Army National Guard as both an infantryman and a military policeman before a 2007 crash with a hit-and-run driver caused him to now use a wheelchair.

All three candidates in the race emphasized lightening the state’s heavy property tax burden and fixing the public pension system during the campaign.

McConchie also backs Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” of pro-business reforms to workers’ compensation, tort liability and prevailing wage laws.

McConchie's lead was anchored in his base of Lake County, where 40.7 percent of voters supported him.

In McHenry County, Urlacher led with about 38 percent of votes. McConchie had 31.5 and McLaughlin 30.6.

McConchie noted that Lake County residents have gotten to know him over the years and said he hoped to get that same opportunity in McHenry County, if results hold.

"I really look forward to having the population of people from McHenry County get to know me as well as the people of Lake County have been able to, which is difficult to do in the relatively short time you have in a campaign," McConchie said.

Urlacher, the mayor of the small town of Mettawa, is business development director for Englewood Construction Company and the brother of former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. McLaughlin is the president of Barrington Hills.

According to the Aldertrack 2016 Illinois Racing Form’s list of total funds per race, the election ranked among the state’s top 10 most expensive at the end of February. All three candidates were collecting donations of $1,000 or more in the weeks leading up to the primary.

The 26th District covers southeastern McHenry and southwestern Lake county and slivers of Kane and Cook counties. It includes all or parts of Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, Cary, Fox River Grove, Carpentersville and Barrington.