Hastings Outpolled Hannon Across the Board

Tinley Park Trustee Greg Hannon lost Tuesday’s state Senate primary to Michael Hastings in part because his 24 years of service as a village trustee simply didn’t translate into big numbers on Election Day in the village or anywhere.

Hastings, 32, son of Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings, easily defeated Hannon, 59, by a ratio of about 3-1 in the 19th Senate District Democratic primary. The district includes portions of , Orland Park, Orland Hills, Oak Forest, , Mokena and New Lenox. They were running to replace state Sen. Maggie Crotty, a Democrat, who retired. There is no Republican candidate, as yet.

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Hastings swamped Hannon across the board including the trustee’s home base of Tinley Park. Hannon won only a handful of precincts in Tinley Park – and with the exception of Precinct 63 – only outpolled Hastings by a few votes.

Hannon’s best showing was at Precinct 63 at the Tinley Park Police Station, where he garnered 55 votes to Hastings’ 28.

It was about the same in the Will County portion of the district. Hannon captured two of 47 precincts – none in Tinley Park – again by a couple of votes each. He outpolled Hastings 11-9 at Frankfort Precinct 23 and 3-1 at New Lenox Precinct 19.

Low turnout didn’t help Hannon in his effort. He said he knocked on 14,000 doors in the district while campaigning since December, which is more than the number of voters who showed up at the polls.

Hannon was quick to concede to Hastings, calling him less than two hours after the polls closed Tuesday.

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"I just want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for all the hard work and the effort they put in," Hannon said at his election celebration in Tinley Park. "I'm humbled."

"I wish the outcome was a little different, but I'm very content with being an elected official in Tinley Park," he said. "I look forward to returning to my seat on the board of trustees and doing good things for the Southland like I've been doing for the past 25 years."

Hastings was emotional after it became clear that he had won in a landslide and quoted U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf.

"He once said that if you leave here with the word 'duty' implanted in your mind, if you leave here with the word 'honor' carved in your soul, if you leave here with the love of country stamped on your heart, then you will be worthy of being a 21st century leader," Hastings said. "I truly believe that and it's how I feel."

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Hastings is a U.S. Army captain and Bronze Star recipient who led combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 and 2007. He's served as the vice president for and as chairman of the .

He complimented Hannon and called him a "fierce competitor."

"Voters had the opportunity to choose between two qualified candidates," he said. "The people of Illinois win here, either way."