Justice Steve McGlynn
Thousands of Madison County citizens who wanted to send Republican appointee Stephen McGlynn back to the Fifth District appellate court rejected an opportunity to keep Republican appointee Don Weber at their county courthouse.
McGlynn and Weber both failed, but McGlynn put up a better fight. In Madison County, McGlynn lost by 2,246 votes and Weber lost by 9,972.
McGlynn carried Collinsville by more than 500 votes and Weber lost Collinsville by more than 1,000 votes.
In similar fashion McGlynn carried Edwardsville by more than 500 and Weber lost the city by more than 800.
Weber's campaign sank like a rock, just a few months after he picked up the biggest boost of free publicity ever for a rookie judge.
In March, Chief Judge Edward Ferguson vouched for Weber's fairness and denied motions of the Lakin Law Firm to remove Weber from all Lakin cases forever.
Ferguson's decision felt like the dawn of a new day, but in light of last Tuesday's result the whole drama amounts to nothing.
On top of losing Edwardsville and Collinsville, Weber fell short of 40 percent in Wood River and Alton. In Granite City, barely a fourth of voters picked him.
In Fort Russell Township, north of Edwardsville, McGlynn won by 147 votes and Weber lost by 65.
In Foster Township, east of Godfrey, McGlynn won by 146 votes and Weber lost by two.
In St. Jacob Township, McGlynn won by 97 and Weber lost by 22.
Weber achieved some success in areas where the population thins out, but even in those precincts hordes of McGlynn voters deserted him.
Jarvis Township, in and around Troy, gave McGlynn a margin of 671 votes. For Weber they chopped the advantage to 178.
McGlynn gained an edge of 1,151 votes in Helvetia and Saline townships, in and around Highland, but Weber's edge shrank to 765.
Moro Township, north of Fort Russell, favored McGlynn by 190 votes but shrank the gap to 23 for Weber.
McGlynn fared about as well in St. Clair County as in Madison County, emerging from the crowded Metro East with a deficit below 5,000.
That decent effort gave him a chance to catch up in rural counties, but Democrat Bruce Stewart carried the rural region.
Stewart scored huge victories in the coal belt.
Saline County, in and around Harrisburg, gave Stewart 6,786 votes to McGlynn's 2,054.
Stewart took Franklin County, in and around Benton, by 8,887 to 4,038.
Jackson and Williamson counties together, in and around Carbondale and Marion, turned out 20,081 votes for Stewart and 12,522 for McGlynn.