With less than 24 hours until Election Day, the Illinois governor candidates criss-crossed the state to get out the vote one last time.
Gov. Pat Quinn stayed near Chicago (home of his core voter base of true-blue Democrats); then headed to Marion, Downstate, where Democratic U.S. Rep Bill Enyart is engaged in a toss-up race against GOP rival Mike Bost; center-state Peoria and northern Rockford, each major cities in Illinois' 17th congressional district, where Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos is battling Republican Bobby Schilling.
On GOP nominee Bruce Rauner's agenda: Appearances alongside former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and 10th congressional candidate Bob Dold, who's locked in a contentious race with incumbent Democrat Brad Schneider for the affluent North Shore district. He and Edgar will traverse cities from Bloomington and Springfield to Rockford and Moline, where Michelle Obama stumped for Quinn on Saturday, before rendezvouzing with Kirk at a Lincolnshire rally on Monday night.
This weekend Rauner, a wealthy Winnetka-based investor and political neophyte, split time between tending to voters Downstate with whom he's snagged much support and those up north who wield lots of clout and whose votes are bitterly fought over. On Sunday, Rauner and Quinn appealed to the African-American community—a crucial segment in winning Chicago—by attending services at local churches. Rauner has sought to loosen Quinn's grip on black constituents through securing endorsements from South Side preacher Corey Brooks, among others, who complain that Democrats are taking their votes for granted.
Meanwhile, the rivals targeted Illinoisians with a flood of political ads and robo-calls featuring the voices of President Barack Obama, for Quinn, and Edgar, for Rauner.
