Former one-term Republican Congressman Bob Dold has won back Illinois' 10th congressional district seat from freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider.
The Democratic congressman, who unseated Dold back in 2012, conceded shortly after 9:30 p.m. at his election night headquarters where the disappointment was palpable.
Schneider started his concession speech by congratulating Dold.
"Bob, this has been a hard-fought campaign, and I wish you only good in representing our district," Schneider said at the Northbrook Hilton.
After thanking his supporters, volunteers and family, Schneider said, "Tonight, we fell short of our goal. We came incredibly close, and we fought incredibly hard the entire way."
The congressman added that the "goal of this campaign wasn't some title or to fulfill some lifelong political ambition."
"I didn't run to be a congressman," he said. "I wanted to be in congress to tackle our problems. This campaign was about keeping promises and commitments that we made to generations past, present and future. It was about rebuilding the middle class and our economy for the benefit of all. It was about strengthening Medicare and Social Security, continuing the work on health care, protecting every woman's right to choose and protecting our environment now and into the future.
"So tonight's not the end," Schneider continued. "These issues aren't going away. And come tomorrow, I hope to see you all on the frontlines fighting for the middle class, fighting for equal rights, fighting for the promise that all of our kids will have a better future than what our parents gave to us."
Here's more from Schneider's concession speech:
Tensions were high at Schneider's campaign headquarters throughout the night, as the Democrat was trailing just a touch behind Dold for most of the evening.
Luis Rivas Jr., assistant director of legislation for the Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers, said he was deeply saddened by Schneider's defeat.
"Brad was a great advocate for letter carriers and for working families across the country, as well as labor," he said. "It was a very difficult loss today."
In 2011, Illinois Democratic lawmakers redrew the district so it would favor more Democrats. It had been more than 30 years since a Democrat had held Illinois' 10th congressional seat before Schneider won in 2012.
The 2014 race in the 10th congressional district, which incorporates portions of the northern suburbs of Chicago in Cook and Lake Counties, was considered one of Illinois' tightest and most expensive elections this cycle. Outside spending in the race alone topped $12.3 million, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group that tracks such information. The two 10th district candidates collectively spent more than $6 million.
"I thought that Brad ran a really good campaign," said Steve Sheffey, a Democratic activist in Highland Park. "He fought for the issues that this district believes in, but the national trends were just too much to overcome. The national trends and the influx of Super PAC money that Dold got were just too much to overcome."
Christine Nannicelli, campaign representative for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, called Schneider a champion for environmental issues.
"Sierra Club members and volunteers worked incredibly hard across the district putting in an enormous amount of work fighting to make sure that our environment is protected, we have clean air, clean water, a stable climate, and really strong clean energy jobs and elected officials that are fighting for that," she said. "We knew that Brad was a champion for those things, so this is a very disappointing loss. But it's going to be a new day tomorrow, and we look forward to exploring the opportunity of building a strong relationship with Representative Dold."
What's next for the district?
"I think Dold will lose in two years" unless he changes his record on issues, Sheffey said. "I really hope that Dold will be the congressman he claimed he was last time, as opposed to the congressman he really was. If Dold really becomes a congressman that he said he was, he'll be very tough to beat. But if Dold votes like he did two years ago, and people see that, he's very vulnerable."
Looking ahead, Sheffey said he hopes Schneider will run again for the 10th district seat in 2016.
"I don't know if he will or not," he said. "Brad was an outstanding congressman, and I think if he does run again, it will be wonderful, but that might be asking too much. Running in this district is seven days a week, 24 hours a day. And it's really a lot to ask of someone to do this."