Support for Gov. Quinn seemed strong among black voters in Chicago's Austin community on Tuesday, but that didn't translate into a win for the incumbent who was seeking his second full-term in office.
Quinn lost his re-election bid to Republican challenger Bruce Rauner, who dumped $27 million of his own money into his campaign war chest.
Rauner and his running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti garnered 1,742,403 or 50.6 percent of the vote versus Quinn's 1,585,332 or 46 percent of the votes.
An early Rauner supporter, Rev. Marshall Hatch said he was not surprised by the election results. Hatch said Quinn's low approval rating signaled a pending change. Quinn, he added, made a major misstep by selecting Paul Vallas as his running mate as opposed to former city treasurer Stephanie Neely. That move, Hatch said, showed Quinn took the black community for granted.
"I think Quinn left the Republicans a major opening," said Hatch, pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in West Garfield Park.