(Updates with background, details)
By Fiona Ortiz
CHICAGO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Illinois Democratic Governor Pat
Quinn on Wednesday conceded the election to Republican
challenger Bruce Rauner after a $100 million mud-slinging race
that has put a wealthy political newbie in charge of the
financially troubled state.
Unofficial results show Rauner took 51 percent of the vote
with close to 100 percent of precincts reporting. Quinn trailed
by about 157,000 votes, taking some 47 percent. Libertarian Chad
Grimm took 3 percent.
Earlier on Wednesday Quinn had said he would not concede
until every single absentee and provisional ballot was counted.
Polling in Illinois was plagued with delays on Tuesday and a
mysterious campaign of automated phone calls targeting election
workers, which is now under criminal investigation.
"It is clear that we do not have enough votes to win the
election and therefore we respect the result, we respect what
the voters did yesterday and I look forward to working with the
new administration," Quinn told reporters at a very brief news
conference in Chicago.
An hour earlier Rauner announced his transition team. With
Democrats still firmly in control of the state legislature, he
has pledged to work with House Speaker Michael Madigan to fix
the state's fiscal woes.
Illinois' public employee pension system is underfunded by
$100 billion and the state has the lowest credit rating of any
U.S. state.
In the campaign 65-year-old Quinn had attacked Rauner, a
57-year-old venture capitalist with nine homes, saying he was a
heartless businessman who does not care about the issues
affecting average people.
Rauner portrayed Quinn as a tax-and-spend liberal
responsible for the state's economic doldrums and for continued
corruption problems in big state agencies.
(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz and David Bailey; Editing by Eric
Beech and Eric Walsh)
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