Judy Koehler had a quartet, called Wine and Roses, for her victory party Tuesday night, but a convention of psychiatrists kept the musicians silent for most of the evening.
It was that kind of night.
With returns from the primary election coming in ever-so-slowly, candidates for major state races were holding their breaths well into the late night hours Tuesday, waiting for some indication of how their political fortunes were decided, or hoping against hope that developing trends would be reversed.
That meant tiny controversies, such as whether Koehler`s band could play and when, became hot topics.
Unofficial returns throughout Tuesday night showed Koehler, a state representative from Henry, in a dead heat with George Ranney, a Chicago steel executive, for the right to represent Republicans in November against U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon (D., Ill.), the state`s leading vote-getter.
For her party in a conference room at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, Koehler had brought the Wine and Roses band from her hometown in central Illinois.
But, when the band began warming up, they were ordered to stop because they were disturbing 30 or so University of Chicago psychiatrists across the hall.
At 9:30, when the psychiatrists` meeting broke up, Wine and Roses began playing dance music for the 50 or so Koehler supporters assembled.
The quartet controversy might have been settled, but still in question
–aside from the vote totals–was whether the rain Tuesday had helped Koehler or Ranney more.
Koehler said the rain probably helped her. ”I am disappointed there was such a low turnout, but my voters will get out rain or shine,” she said.
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But noting that there had been storms in central Illinois, one member of Ranney`s campaign staff, assembled at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, said:
”That`s a good sign for us.”
Ranney said the low turnout hadn`t surprised him.
He lamented that he hadn`t had sufficient time to heighten his name recognition throughtout the state. He said that if he did well in the vote, he owes much to support from regular Republicans, such as former Gov. Richard Ogilvie.
In the race for the Democratic nomination for Illinois treasurer, Patrick Quinn, a member of the Cook County Board of (tax) Appeals, was overjoyed by early evening returns.
Just before 10 p.m., after taking some returns on the phone, he jumped for joy and rushed to his campaign aides to talk over the numbers.
But, in another hour, the mood in Quinn`s meeting room at the Midland Hotel had changed.
The change came as Quinn was on the phone taking more returns, his 2-year-old son Patrick tugging at his belt. He got up from the phone and walked to a small black and white television to try to get more returns.
He said his figures for Chicago showed him trailing with 42,519 votes with about 40 percent counted. That put him in third in the city behind Treasurer James Donnewald who had 43,934 and former Treasurer Jerome Cosentino who had 47,849.
”Well, I gotta carry the city,” he said, adding, ”Well, looking Downstate, we`re pretty optimistic that it`s going to be . . . close.”
At the Sabre Room at 8900 W. 95th St. in southwest suburban Hickory Hills, a seemingly relaxed Cosentino was smiling and saying: ”It`s too early to tell. If I were to make a prediction, I`d be speculating. Quinn and I are close.”
Shortly before the polls closed, Donnewald, looking exhausted, stood in the rain across Randolph Street from the Bismarck Hotel, and, as his wife and children urged him to enter the hotel, talked about the campaign.
”I did what I had to do to win, and, if I don`t win, I think I`ll just go home,” he said, rubbing his chin with his hand. ”I guess I`ll just go home and relax.”
He denied reports that he had failed to win the support of many in regular Cook County Democrats despite the endorsement of county party Chairman Edward Vrdolyak, Chicago`s 10th Ward alderman.
”All that is just bunk,” Donnewald said. ”The one thing definite in this campaign is that Ed Vrdolyak was with me and is with me tonight. He worked very hard as we did Downstate.”
Then he added: ”About the only thing to do is to relax and wait to see what the numbers will tell us.”
In the race for the Democratic nomination for Illinois attorney general, incumbent Neil Hartigan appeared to be winning handily, though challenger Ald. Martin Oberman (43d) kept saying: ”It`s still too early to tell.”
Hartigan was smiling and gloating that returns showed him winning by a 2-1 margin in a race that he had found particularly distasteful because of Oberman`s attacks on his record.
But Oberman said: ”At this point, the numbers the Hartigan camp is putting out would be from his best wards and traditionally in Chicago elections, you get out the regular organization votes the earliest. I think those are the best results they`ll be putting out all night. Anyone who says they know what is happening in this race is guessing.”
Though Hartigan had figures that showed him leading Oberman by 63 to 37 percent, he told supporters at his campaign headquarters late Tuesday that he wasn`t prepared to claim victory.
Nonetheless, Adlai Stevenson, the party`s gubernatorial candidate, said on a visit to the festive Hartigan headquarters: ”Illinois is going to get a new governor, and Illinois is going to keep a great attorney general. Together we are going to make Illinois the great state that it was before James Thompson became governor.”