Flying from city to city in her private plane, Republican gubernatorial candidate Corinne Wood was trying to schedule where her campaign should land.
The Rosemont Voters League was hosting its pre-election dinner just three nights before Tuesday’s primary, which would give Wood a final chance to rally before some staunch Republicans.
There was just one glitch: Most local Republicans had already pledged their support to Jim Ryan, Wood’s chief rival for the nomination.
Wood, the state’s lieutenant governor, still wanted to go, even though her staff reminded her it would be Ryan territory.
“Well, we can stay until we’re escorted out,” joked Wood, who has had to contend with being snubbed by Republican Party officials across Illinois since the start of her campaign six months ago.
The decidedly cool embrace she has received, even among officials from her party, helps explain Wood’s 11th-hour effort to virtually abandon conventional Republican voters and lure support from independents and Democrats.
Appealing to crossover voters had always been part of Wood’s strategy to become the state’s first female governor.
But it began to resemble a desperation tactic when Wood failed miserably in trying to achieve a key goal–winning in overwhelming numbers the support of Republican moderate women as she tries to defeat two conservative male opponents.
The slide may have begun when she considered using the terrorist attack in New York to her political advantage as part of her multimillion-dollar, largely self-funded TV ad campaign.
Characterizing her Republican opponents as being “extreme” for their opposition to abortion didn’t help either and may have alienated many of the undecided GOP voters whom she needed in her camp.
With no place else to turn, Wood launched a highly publicized effort in her campaign’s final days to attract gays, African-Americans and other traditionally Democratic voters. One example was her decision to campaign in East St. Louis with less than a week to go until the election. In the last primary election for governor, nearly 7,000 ballots were cast there by Democrats compared with only 366 Republican ballots.
“I welcome the support of men and women, no matter what party they are affiliated with,” Wood said in announcing the formation of her Independents and Democrats Committee.
Many of the lieutenant governor’s final campaign ploys were orchestrated by self-described “campaign doctor” Don Rose, whom Wood hired with about six weeks left until the primary.
With anecdotal evidence that her campaign tactics were turning her poll numbers around, Wood was predicting a victory on Tuesday.
“When people wake up on March 20, they’re going to wake up to a surprise,” she said.
At least by then her campaign will know where it landed.
