Nearly a week has passed since Election Day, but the outcome of the nasty, neck-and-neck Illinois treasurer race remains up in the air until every single vote is counted.
As of Sunday night, Republican Tom Cross led Democrat Mike Frerichs by a mere 646 votes. according to data cruncher Scott Kennedy of the website Illinois Election Data. The gap between the two candidates closed after Chicago precincts submitted 14,000 treasurer votes including some 8,500 for Frerichs.
On Monday morning, Scott tweaked his Cross-Frerichs tracker to reflect a difference of 647 votes, based upon 1,314 fresh votes coming in from Kane County that gave Cross "a net gain of one vote."
Cross and Frerichs are in dead heat, with each commanding 48 percent of the vote out of almost 3.5 million votes cast. Libertarian contender Matthew Skopek's 4 percent of the vote.
Last week, Cross had a slight lead of 14,373 votes—a number vehemently contested by Team Frerichs as both sides awaited tallies from yet-to-be-counted provisional ballots.
"We're reaching out to our donors and supporters, letting them know what’s going on," Cross rep Kevin Artl told the Northwest Herald on Thursday. "We are preparing—in the event we have to defend our victor—preparing a top-notch legal team to work on the recount."
