Truax concedes to Oberweis in GOP Senate race

U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis announced Tuesday night that his opponent had conceded defeat in their closer-than-expected Republican race for the right to face Democratic incumbent Sen. Dick Durbin in November.But Oberweis stopped short of claiming victory, saying he was optimistic but would wait for more numbers to come in. He said GOP opponent Doug Truax had called him to give his concession and to pledge his support. Truax's campaign confirmed that it had conceded.According to unofficial returns, Oberweis had 56 percent of the vote to Doug Truax's 44 percent, with 73 percent of the state's precincts reporting.Durbin ran unopposed on the Democratic side.Truax, a first-time candidate, ran more strongly than some had predicted, considering that he trailed Oberweis 52 percent to 18 percent in a Tribune/WGN-TV poll taken March 1-5.During the week before the primary, Oberweis celebrated his wife's birthday in Florida while Chicago was belted by another snowstorm. Truax gained public attention by criticizing his opponent as an out-of-touch 'snowbird.'During the primary campaign, Oberweis, 67, a state senator from Sugar Grove, followed a strategy of ignoring Truax, 43, from Downers Grove. Citing the press of legislative business, Oberweis agreed to only one debate, a position that drew criticism from Truax.Truax's spokesman, Dan Curry, confirmed that Truax called Oberweis to concede defeat.'In my opinion, Doug Truax is the best political newcomer I've seen in Illinois Republican politics in 20 years,' Curry said. 'He did an extraordinary job going from zero percent name ID (identification) to giving Jim Oberweis, a guy who's run multiple times in the last 10 years, a real race.'

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