The race for Illinois governor is still up in the air, with Republican State Sen. Bill Brady trailing Democrat Pat Quinn by more than 8,000 votes. But Brady did not concede the race.

Meanwhile, Quinn refused to give up his fight as precints around the state continue to count ballots.

“The people have won and I believe we have won,” Quinn told reporters last night.

Brady addressed the crowd of Republican supporters around midnight after several hours of nailbiting and poll watching.

“Some of you may have realized by now I have a penchant for close election,” Brady said. “It seems to be something that always ends up on the right side.”

That’s a reference to his Republican primary win over State Sen. Kirk Dillard, which came down to just about a hundred votes.

Patty Schuh, a spokeswoman for the Brady campaign, said, “What we’re ensuring tonight is that all the votes are counted, that every ballot’s counted and that everyone has their say in this election.”

She said there are still absentee ballots to count in addition to others that weren’t reported late Tuesday night.