Illinois' next state treasurer won the Nov. 4 election
by 9,225 votes _ the third-closest statewide race since at least 1900.
Democrat Michael Frerichs beat Republican Tom Cross 48 percent to
47.8 percent out of 3.5 million votes cast. Records collected and analyzed by
The Associated Press show that the 0.261 percentage-point difference ranks it
behind only the 198-2 race for governor and 1952 campaign for secretary of
state.
The Illinois State Board of Elections formally declared Frerichs the winner at
a special meeting Sunday. Cross _ the former House minority leader from Oswego
led by 20,000 votes on Election Day. But the state senator from
Champaign ate into that lead because of late-arriving ballots that were mailed
or cast provisionally and counted later.
Illinois Treasurer's Race 3rd Closest Since 1900
