Dillard Gets Landslide Win Over Nybo in 24th Senate District Race
The district includes all or part of Clarendon Hills, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lisle, Oak Brook, Western Springs, and Wheaton.
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Updated at 11:05 p.m.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) grabbed more than 60 percent of the vote and beat Rep. Chris Nybo (R-Lombard) for the Republican nomination in Illinois' 24th Senate District in Tuesday's General Primary.
The incumbent has served the 24th District since 1993.
"I take this as a nice referendum on my leadership style," Dillard said over the phone after the win became official. "It shows that people understand results and want state legislators to work in collaboration without ever giving up their principles."
With 100 percent of precincts reporting in both DuPage and Cook counties, Dillard had 19,145 total votes (62 percent) to Nybo's 11,928 (32 percent).
Nybo, who has represented the state's 41st House District since 2011, said he had a grass-roots campaign that did the best it could against an opponent in Dillard who had establishment support.
"I’m proud of the way we ran the race," Nybo said. "I'm proud of the volunteers that helped out."
He credited Democratic redistricting with forcing him into a race against Dillard.
"The Democrats got exactly what they wanted," said Nybo, who described himself as someone who fights for pension reform and stands up against insider deals. "They have one less person down there like me to contend with beginning in 2013."
Nybo said he has no immediate plans to run for office again in the future and is looking forward to spending time with his family.
Dillard, who once was chief of staff for Gov. Jim Edgar, said he respected Nybo for being a "tenacious campaigner."
Dillard will face A. Ghani in the November General Election after Ghani ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination Tuesday.
In answering a Patch questionnaire, Dillard said his prioirities if re-elected in November would be to make Illinois a "destination economy" for job-creators and to protect taxpayers from further "raids" on their pocketbooks by state agencies.
Dillard is 56 years old and lives in Hinsdale, where he was raised, with his wife and two daughters.
FINAL RESULTS: STATE SENATE, 24TH DISTRICT
Republican
Kirk Dillard is nominated for the General Election ballot and will face Democrat A. Ghani, whose nomination bid was unopposed.
| Cook | DuPage | ||
| Precincts Reporting: | 6 of 6 | 216 of 216 | |
| Votes | Votes | Total | |
| Kirk Dillard | 767 | 18,378 | 19,145 (62%) |
| Chris Nybo |
251 | 11,677 | 11,928 (38%) |
York Parent
10:39 pm on Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Oh, well, Chris. You can run for Mayor of Elmhurst after Stormwater Pete loses his fight to hold two elected positions.
Darlene Heslop
10:52 pm on Tuesday, March 20, 2012
let's just hope that the legislature catches on to what skippy and jimmy got their buddy donnie harmon to do for petie and uncle garry...and if nybo was smart...he'd just stay out of things for a while.
Lombard Voter
7:45 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
What a resounding and well deserved victory for Mr Dillard...the voters have spoken and now it is time to focus on November victories across the board. This victory certainly puts a major dent in the ambitions of Nybo but then one gets what they deserve when they play their hand like he did....a lesson learned that is for sure. Surely there was no fiesta at Rancho Viejo as the numbers stayed consistently ahead for Dillard from the very beginning despite the Nybo camp's hope of a rebound once the Lombard numbers started to hit. This win will certainly make for an interesting reshuffling of the remaining deck chairs amongst the Fitzpatrick fans for this was a major blow to their fast diminishing agenda of change.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
12:40 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012
LV, your take on this is so incredibly cynical and without merit, it's amazing. I'm sure Kirk will benefit greatly from having had to run a very comprehensive campaign against a very worthy opponent. No one works as hard as Chris Nybo. No one has an organization with such an effective operation. Kirk won a very hard fought race and has the most important endorsement to date now; the endorsement of Chris Nybo who ran an outstanding 9 month campaign. There were incredible resources called on to win this race. In the future, Kirk will benefit from being pushed to campaign very hard. To his credit, he met the challenge. He won decisively. We are all with him now in his November race and beyond. I'm positive he's very pleased to have that support going forward. I imagine he's not to thrilled with your inappropriate diatribe. Kirk has heard from all of us in the campaign and he's pleased to have our support.
Johner
9:45 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
You are right, Lombard Voter - let's keep career politicians and expect them to change. This is exactly how Einstein defined 'insanity'!
Not Your Best Option
10:02 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Johner,
So by your logic, ANYONE that has served more than one or two terms should not be supported? That would mean we should not vote for ANY of the presidential candidates because they too have had long political careers.
Kirk Dillard gets results and is trying take his experience to the Governor's mansion. It's not as though he wants to stay in the senate seat forever. Someone with experience and able to garner huge support (Dillard) needs to run against a Democratic candidate for governor. By your twisted, Nybo logic republicans should put up a high school grad.
I hope all of the bitter, sick supporters of the Fitzpatrick/Nybo world crawl back into their holes. We are tired of your spin logic.
Johner
10:08 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Wow! Someone needs a sedative! How long has Dillard been in the Senate? If he was going to make a move, he'd done it by now, but he's too comfy where he's at. As far as getting results, you are right - Illinois is in great shape!
Lombard Voter
10:25 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Face it Johner that Nybo made the wrong choices when it came to pulling together his campaign strategy and he was sorely misdirected. He had promise in Springfield but made one too many missteps. One need only look at the who's who from across DuPage County and beyond that stood up for Dillard while leaving Nybo wondering who turned the lights off on his political future. Illinois will indeed be on the right track with Dillard representing the new 24th district.
Not Your Best Option
10:46 am on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Johner,
He already made a run for Governor and lost by less than one percent of the vote. And you are going to blame the entire Illinois mess on one candidate? Nybo has been in Springfield for the last 3.5 years. Are you going to paint him with the same brush?
Kevin Fitzpatrick
12:33 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012
Actually, Rep. Nybo has been in Springfield for 15 months. He was sworn in, in January of 2011. He had an opportunity to be sworn in early and declined, choosing instead to be sworn in with his elected class, forgoing any pension benefits that ended on 12/31/10. You can be critical, but you have an obligation to be honest.
Johner
1:11 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
All I can say is that I'm for new blood and the old regime needs to go. The idea behind public service is to do what you came for and on to bigger and better things like say, becoming governor after being senator - that's good. But the likes of people like Madigan and Cullerton having all this power, and 99.9% of the people in Illinois have no vote to whether they stay or not.
Dillard is doing a decent job, but I don't like him, or anyone else spending decades (or 43 years and counting) in office - I strongly believe they start losing touch.
Lombard Voter
2:33 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The ones that need to go are Madigan, Quinn, and others that play the bi-partisan political game known as the Chicago Way if we want to see change in this state. The real power is held by just a few and the lemmings all follow as they take Illinois further and further into the cesspool of insider deals and brokering legislative action. One need only realize with two ex-governors serving time that it is time to upset the status quo and Dillard will lead that charge for not only our district but for the state as a whole in the coming years.
Johner
3:54 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Let's hope so. I'll give him a chance.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
6:29 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Best thing to do and say today, is congratulations to Senator Dillard on a very strong victory. Both men had a gracious conversation with one another yesterday. There are plenty of things they admire about one another. Lombard was very good to Chris. Soon, Senator Dillard will be our Senator here. We welcome him and look forward to his voice being ours. The time for acrimony is over.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
6:32 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
And LV, we finally have something we can fully agree on. Madigan and Quinn do need to go. We can't advance as a state until we enact legislation that either or both are bottling up. I'm sure that Senator Dillard and Rep Nybo and every other Republican in Illinois is dedicated to that effort.
Jim Court
10:16 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Two exceptionally strong candidates, both who would have served with distinction.
Just like American Idol, you can only have one winner yet so much talent at the top.
Kind of a shame.
Jack B Nimble
8:59 am on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thank you Kevin. To be honest I didn't want Chris to run and I didn't like how he ran. That being said, he has done many good things and I believe he still has a future in politics if that is what he desires. I hope to be able to support him next time. As for Senator Dillard, it is time to support our Senator and (hopefully future Governor). I believe he has the right combination of values that Republicans AND independent voters can support. It is time to close our ranks, build our unity and take on Madigan. I moved to Elmhurst 10 years ago in large part because I grew up in Cook County and did not want to be part of that system any longer. Now I will have a Chicago Congressman AND possibly a a hand picked Madigan tool for Democratic State Rep. Our focus MUST be on ensuring that Daniel Kordick wins by a LANDSLIDE and getting a GOP Governor to start turning the tide.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
11:10 am on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Mr. Nimble, we found ourselves in a very difficult situation with the redistricting and there were no easy decisions. That being said, two honorable men ran against one another and the voters chose Senator Dillard this time. No one really likes the opposite campaign in these intramural contests. We weren't in love with the missiles coming our way either. The race is over, the acrimony should subside and it is time to support Kirk and we do. Chris and Kirk have had a few opportunities to speak since the election and Kirk is very aware that the full resources of the Nybo organization are with him going forward. That's no small commitment. We are also very committed to helping Dan Kordik who is a close personal friend of ours. We offered him some help in his race, but obviously didn't have a lot of time or resources to give him with a race of our own. We'll be out there supporting our ticket in full force. If we can help our worthy and honorable recent opponent become our Governor, we will. He's not our opponent as of Tuesday evening. He's our new Senator, a friend, and an ally in the good fight for getting Illinois back to a place of respectability.
J rogers
3:55 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
Dillard is a classes con man who has duped the idiots
in DuPage. He is a backer, supporter and friend
and helper of Cellini. Dillard was aware of the
Chicago dens and mob associates put on the payroll
by Janis and did nothing. He cannot be trusted and
he's way too much in debt so he will do pay for play.
J rogers
4:29 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
KEVIN--yOUR BOY dILLARD IS ABOUT TO FACE SOME REALLY EMBARASSING THINGS---GET OFF THE BANDWAGON.