Live blog: At the polls

5:21 a.m.: 5 things to know before voting -- "Don't forget to vote for your candidate's convention delegates. If you take a Republican ballot, your vote for president will mean nothing unless you also vote for your candidate's convention delegates. Former House Speaker Denny Hastert, for example, is running in his 14th Congressional District as a Romney delegate. Romney could lose big, but Hastert might still win a seat at the convention for him."

5:26 a.m.: Hastert -- Why I endorsed Mitt Romney.

5:40 a.m.: 14th Congressional District candidate Bill Foster plans to spend part of his day mingling with Aurora voters. Go here for his public schedule.

8:30 a.m.: If I'm reading the FEC filings correctly, Bill Foster has pumped a good bit of his own money into the campaign during the last two weeks.

8:41 a.m.: A few scattered problems reported by readers so far -- one caller said he had problems with a voting machine (didn't say where); another caller suggested the Fox Valley Park District referendum was on the ballot twice.

9:13 a.m.: From staff writer Tim Wagner:

Aurora resident Claire Keasler simply wanted to vote for her mother, Arlene Shoemaker, who is running for precinct committeeman in Ward 3, Precinct 2.

One problem at the polling place at the Methodist church on Fourth Street and Marion Avenue: No local races appeared on Keasler’s ballot. She voted for president, but was told by an election judge and later someone at the Aurora Election Commission that she could only vote once, eliminating the chance to vote for her mother.

“It’s very frustrating,” Keasler said. “How can you send the wrong ballot (to the polling place)? I just think this is wrong and everybody should know about it.”

10:11 a.m.: More problems reported:

Resident Charlie Zine voted this morning at the Prisco Center and noticed there was no Fox Valley Park District $45 million bond referendum on the ballot, along with other races that were missing.

Zine approached the election judge, who opened a wrapped package of ballots, which were correct. But 18 people had already voted on the faulty ballots, the election judge told Zine.

“They put these (ballots) out in big numbers,” Zine said. “These things may be floating all over the city.”

11:08 a.m.: Chris Lauzen -- "(Oberweis') four months of beating the snot out of me are over....My guess is we're neck and neck.'

11:24 a.m.: Why Hastert endorsed Oberweis -- “[Hastert’s] tendency over the years has been to stay out of primaries, especially local ones,” said former Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Stokke. “But sometimes he feels like he can’t, and in this one, Chris just can’t help himself. He has to just taunt (Hastert). It wasn’t a hard decision in this case to be with someone.”

12:25 p.m.: State Sen. Linda Holmes is calling out the Aurora Election Commission because ballots in her precinct were missing the Fox Valley Park District referendum question as well as the Judicial Subcircuit race.

"What concerns me is what is the Aurora Election Commission doing?” Holmes said. “We are disenfranchising the judges and the Park District. If we redo (the vote), we’ll never get the turnout for people coming out to vote for president.”

Haven't heard from the commission yet because noone can get through on the phone lines. We're sending a reporter over to the commission.

12:33 p.m.: What election is this?

From Tim Wagner --

A woman called after stopping at the Precinct 5, Ward 5 polling station. She wanted to vote in the 14th Congressional District, and was looking for Chris Lauzen and Jim Oberweis.

“One of the judges told me, ‘They’re not running in this election … maybe they’ll run in the next one,’” the woman said. “I thought that was kind of strange.”

1:24 p.m.: Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti's office is investigating several claims of election code violations throughout the county.

The state’s attorney’s election complaint hotline had also received calls about Hispanic voters being turned away in Elgin and signs within 100 feet of the polling place in Aurora. Barsanti had sent employees to both places, but had not determined there were any violations as of noon. Barsanti was unsure whether Hispanic votes being turned away was an isolated incident, a rumor or more.

3:01 p.m.: We're hearing rumors of complaints about congressional candidate Bill Foster campaigning at polling places in violation of election laws. Electioneering is prohibited within 100 feet of the entrance to any polling place. Foster's own Web site shows him talking to voters right outside the doors at several locations.

3:06 p.m.: It's starting to hail/sleet in Aurora. Hopefully the weather won't keep voters coming home from work from going to the polls.

3:07 p.m. The Foster campaign says the candidate is allowed to go inside polling places as long as he doesn't talk to voters. A campaign spokesman also said it's hard to tell what Foster is doing in the pictures posted on his Web site. It looks pretty obvious that he was talking to voters. Foster voted early, so what else would he be doing at polling places today other than looking for votes?

3:58 p.m.: One Aurora polling place has moved because lack of heat.

Voters used to casting their ballots at the former Aurora YMCA on Garfield Avenue, are now asked to go to Wesley Methodist Church, at the corner of Galena Boulevard and North May Street.

Due to the lack of heat in the YMCA, officials from the Aurora Election Commission brought in portable heaters for voters and election judges. But the heaters blew a fuse in the building, and the location was changed to Wesley Methodist this morning, said Carol Holtz, the commission's executive director.

4:14 p.m.: The Aurora Election Commission said it has been swamped with complaint calls today. Linda Fechner, the commission's assistant executive director, said commission officials hand-delivered proper ballots at polling places where rumors of faulty ballots were confirmed.

4:15 p.m: Foster spokesman Andrew Dupuy denied any wrongdoing by the Democrat, saying Foster was properly credentialed to enter polling places. “At no time did Bill Foster electioneer at any polling location,” Dupuy said.

Dupuy pointed out that Foster is a recognizable figure, who is “certainly allowed” to talk to someone who approaches him.

An official with the Aurora Election Commission said no formal complaints about Foster had been filed as of 4 p.m., although the official described a poll watcher “loudly talking” about another candidate campaigning outside West Aurora High School.

5:17 p.m.: Kane County had some problems early today with not being able to give voters access to the 14th Congressional District special ballot on the electronic voting machines at one polling place.

In Elburn, Mayor James Willey said that when he showed up at the Elburn Community Center at 6 a.m. Tuesday to vote, he found election judges there were not able to give him access to an electronic ballot for the special election in the 14th Congressional District.

"They told me I could wait until they figured it out, so I waited until 6:20," Willey said. "Then I had to leave to go to work."

Willey was allowed to vote in the regular primary. But he and at least 20 others were not allowed to vote in the special election, Willey said. Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham's office responded to Willey's complaint promptly -– Willey said he had three contacts with that office before 11 a.m., and in the final one, he was told the problem had been corrected, and he could come back and vote in the special election.

But Willey said because of his work commitments, he would not be able to return before the polls closed.

6:13 p.m.: In response to election problems reported throughout the city today, Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner has released this statement:

“The ability for every citizen to have their vote counted is the cornerstone of our democracy. Every resident no matter their age, income, race or physical ability should have easy access to their polling place and know they will be given the right ballot. Today that did not happen.

It is clear staff at the Aurora Election Commission have not been sufficiently responsive to our citizen’s needs. Although the Election Commission is independently run, the City of Aurora has provided ample resources for its efficient operation. I am very disappointed in the Commission’s performance today.

Management at the Aurora Election Commission has been slow to adopt new processes and technologies that make it easier for people to vote. Now, we cannot be sure how many voters or races were negatively impacted by the election problems reported today.

Aurora residents pay too much for elections to be subjected to an inferior level of service. Unfortunately in recent elections, county government has also been plagued with problems. Right now, I’m not sure who our citizens can rely on to get the process right.

I urge the Aurora Election Commissioners to demand answers and hold management of the Commission responsible for the problems citizens across Aurora encountered today. I hope changes will be broad and swift so that Aurora citizens can vote with confidence in the next election. Otherwise, we will need to seriously consider taking steps to abolish the Aurora Election Commission.”

There's been talk for a long time about abolishing the commission, which has been around since 1934. Maybe this will be the final straw.

7:30 p.m.: Kane County board member Paul Greviskes, one of five Democrats running for judge, joins the criticism of the Aurora Election Commission. He said all the judicial candidates were left off the ballot in at least three precincts, including a West Side precinct that did not have the correct ballots at 1 p.m.

“It think it’s mass incompetence by the Aurora Election Commission,” he said.

7:32 p.m.: Here's another anecdote from a reader:

Ballot issues surfaced in Aurora’s 2nd Ward, 5th precinct, according to resident Bill Burmeier, who voted this morning at Dietrich Elementary School at 1141 Jackson St. The special election ballot he received had no problems, Burmeier said, but his general primary ballot contained only the presidential and delegate races.

“All of those primary opportunities to vote were just not there,” he said.

Burmeier went back to his polling place later Tuesday afternoon and spoke with an election judge, who called the Aurora Election Commission. Election officials said there was no way for Burmeier to make up the races he didn’t cast a vote in, because submitting two ballots is prohibited. What’s more, election judges thought all the ballots in the 5th precinct may have had the same problem, Burmeier said.

“There’s no way to make that vote up, and I was OK with that, but the realization is that no one used the right ballot,” he said. “(There are) a lot of people in this (precinct), and if it happened in this (precinct), it could have happened in others.”

8:32 p.m.: More than 60 percent of the precincts have reported their numbers in Will County. Kane County and Aurora? Not one in either of them. How is that even possible? Even Kendall County has numbers for one precinct by now. Talk about incompetence.

8:35 p.m.: Just as we posted that last update, Kane reported 60 precincts at once. So far, Oberweis is beating Lauzen by about 10 points in Kane in both elections. Aurora has still yet to report anything. Lauzen holds a small edge of about 100 votes in Kendall so far.

8:54 p.m.: Bill Foster is winning in Kane County, John Laesch in Kendall County. Aurora has finally started posting some numbers, although the Web site seems to be periodically unavailable, and the congressional numbers don't seem to be updating.

9:01 p.m.: Oberweis and Foster are maintaining their leads in Kane with 91 of 223 precincts reporting.

9:04 p.m.: Aurora is reporting some Democratic numbers for president and 14th District, but little else. What the heck is going on at that downtown office?

9:09 p.m.: The Sun-Times has Foster (42 percent) and Laesch (43 percent) neck and neck with 94 of 568 precincts reporting throughout the district. Oberweis looks like he's headed for the GOP nomination.

9:26 p.m.: Republican numbers are coming in for Aurora in the 14th District, and Lauzen is winning his hometown by about 400 votes so far. No Aurora numbers have been posted for either special election.

9:28 p.m.: With 157 of 223 precincts reporting, Oberweis is killing Lauzen in Kane County. There won't be enough Aurora votes for him to catch up. Foster is still winning in Kane. Laesch has a 2-1 lead over Foster in Kendall, but like Lauzen, it might not be enough to catch up.

9:34 p.m.: The Aurora Election Commission was established in 1934 by referendum and can only be abolished by referendum, which The Beacon News editorialized in favor of two years ago. It's probably time to get that ball rolling again. It's a relic of the past that has proved its uselessness once again.

9:38 p.m.: Here are the latest compiled numbers for the 14th District in the regular election:

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
235 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 41%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster, Bill Dem 12,473 44%
Laesch, John Dem 11,413 40%
Stein, Jotham Dem 2,225 8%
Serra, Joe Dem 2,094 7%

U.S. House - District 14 - GOP Primary
210 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 37%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Oberweis, Jim GOP 15,903 56%
Lauzen, Chris GOP 11,709 41%
Dilger, Michael GOP 699 2%

9:39 p.m.: And the special election:

U.S. House Special - District 14 - Dem Special Primary
211 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 37%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster, Bill Dem 10,868 51%
Laesch, John Dem 8,579 41%
Stein, Jotham Dem 1,660 8%

U.S. House Special - District 14 - GOP Special Primary
211 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 37%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Oberweis, Jim GOP 14,812 56%
Lauzen, Chris GOP 11,633 44%

9:50 p.m.: Oberweis is winning everywhere except Aurora. This one's over.

9:54 p.m.: Latest compiled numbers:

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
307 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 54%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster, Bill Dem 15,110 44%
Laesch, John Dem 14,368 41%
Stein, Jotham Dem 2,670 8%
Serra, Joe Dem 2,566 7%

U.S. House - District 14 - GOP Primary
302 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 53%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Oberweis, Jim GOP 19,424 56%
Lauzen, Chris GOP 14,481 42%
Dilger, Michael GOP 832 2%

9:55 p.m.: Laesch is making a race of this, winning in all the rural counties. But he still trails Foster by a few percentage points. As expected, Stein is a non-factor. Actually, he might get beat by Joe Serra.

10:02 p.m. Lauzen put up a good fight, but he couldn't overcome Oberweis' cash and clout. Oberweis will no doubt resort to more smear tactics to defeat Foster (presumably), but what is he going to say about the dry scientist with no voting record to pick on? Lauzen deserved better and certainly didn't deserve to have him name dragged through the mud.

10:05 p.m.: The Democratic race remains way too close to call. The latest figures show Laesch further closing the gap. He trails Foster by only 500 votes now. Laesch would be much easier for Oberweis to criticize.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 308 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 54%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 15,434 43%
Laesch , John Dem 14,941 42%
Stein , Jotham Dem 2,746 8%
Serra , Joe Dem 2,635 7%

10:10 p.m.: Foster has extended his lead to about 1,000 votes. Joe Serra trails Stein by only 35 votes! The goofy attorney should be embarassed that he's spent $170,000 and could get beat by a no-name candidate who barely even campaigned.

10:36 p.m.: Laesch just pulled within 21 votes of Foster. This one's going down to the wire.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 360 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 63%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 17,715 43%
Laesch , John Dem 17,694 43%
Stein , Jotham Dem 3,077 7%
Serra , Joe Dem 3,057 7%

10:39 p.m.: Foster has declared victory in the special election, where he leads by 7 points. The difference? Joe Serra isn't running in the special election. It looks like most, if not all, of those votes went to Foster. Serra is the most moderate of the four candidates, so it looks like he had some appeal. Foster is also a moderate, while Laesch is definitely not. The latest figures in the regular election put Foster up by about 300 votes.

10:47 p.m. Joe Serra has jumped over Stein. Amazing.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 441 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 78%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 22,888 43%
Laesch , John Dem 22,113 42%
Serra , Joe Dem 4,188 8%
Stein , Jotham Dem 4,046 8%

10:48 p.m.: Here's an interesting tidbit from Laesch campaign officials. They're saying Kane County totals do not include 10,000 early votes, which they think would give them a boost because Laesch has run a grass-roots campaign. Kendall totals, on the other hand, specifically list the early votes. This thing might not get called tonight.

10:50 p.m.: Oberweis has declared victory. It's about time.

10:52 p.m.: Let's do the math: So far, Stein has spent about $42.50 per vote. Wasn't one of his YouTube commercials based on "wealthy scientist" Foster spending $40.32 per vote while campaigning? Too funny.

11:05 p.m.: Wouldn't it be something if Foster won the special primary election and Laesch won the regular primary? We thought we'd be down to two candidates after today, but we might be seeing more of both of these guys.

11:08 p.m.: With about 77 percent of all the precincts reporting in the 14th Congressional District, the Republican votes total 56,052, while the Democratic votes total 53,620. Maybe the Democrats can pull this thing off in March/November after all. Call it the Obama effect.

11:12 p.m. Now 80 percent of the precincts have reported in the 14th District. It's still tight.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 453 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 80%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 23,471 43%
Laesch , John Dem 22,728 42%
Serra , Joe Dem 4,318 8%
Stein , Jotham Dem 4,151 8%

11:18 p.m. Did anyone think Michael Dilger would pull in 2 percent of the Republican vote in the 14th District? That has to be the protest vote. He has more votes than Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd.

11:28 p.m.: Here are the final Aurora numbers for the regular congressional election:

Democrats
Number of Precincts 74
Precincts Reporting 74 100.0%
Times Counted (49,636 Voters) 10,940 22.0%

JOHN LAESCH (D) 3460 35.3%
JOTHAM STEIN (D) 798 8.1%
BILL FOSTER (D) 4535 46.2%
JOE SERRA (D) 1015 10.3%

Republicans
Number of Precincts 74
Precincts Reporting 74 100.0%
Times Counted (49,636 Voters) 5,533 11.1%

CHRIS LAUZEN (R) 2939 54.0%
JIM OBERWEIS (R) 2410 44.3%
MICHAEL J. DILGER (R) 94 1.7%

11:43 p.m.: And the Kendall County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH. . . . . . . . . . 4,992 53.59 293 4,699
JOTHAM STEIN . . . . . . . . . 473 5.08 22 451
BILL FOSTER. . . . . . . . . . 3,242 34.80 117 3,125
JOE SERRA . . . . . . . . . . 609 6.54 15 594

Republicans
TOTAL VOTES % EARLY VOTING ELECTION DAY
CHRIS LAUZEN . . . . . . . . . 5,028 44.99 429 4,599
JIM OBERWEIS . . . . . . . . . 5,930 53.06 336 5,594
MICHAEL J. DILGER. . . . . . . . 217 1.94 22 195

11:46 p.m.: Foster has expanded his lead with 92 percent of precincts reporting. It looks like Foster has enough separation now to claim victory. Laesch likely won't concede because of the early votes still out there.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 525 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 92%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 29,924 43%
Laesch , John Dem 28,554 41%
Serra , Joe Dem 5,658 8%
Stein , Jotham Dem 5,363 8%

11:48 p.m.: Kane County totals in the 14th regular (219 of 223 precincts reporting):

Democrats
John Laesch 11298 32.12%
Jotham Stein 2470 7.02%
Bill Foster 13540 38.49%
Joe Serra 2579 7.33%

Republicans
Chris Lauzen 14138 40.23%
Jim Oberweis 18804 53.51%
Michael J. Dilger 762 2.17%

11:51 p.m.: DuPage County final totals:

Democrats
John Laesch D 1459 27.74%
Jotham Stein D 495 9.41%
Bill Foster D 2653 50.45%
Joe Serra D 652 12.40%

Republicans
Chris Lauzen R 1457 25.96%
Jim Oberweis R 3956 70.49%
Michael J. Dilger R 199 3.55%

11:53 p.m.: DeKalb County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH. . . . . . . . . . 4,997 54.15
JOTHAM STEIN . . . . . . . . . 527 5.71
BILL FOSTER. . . . . . . . . . 3,300 35.76
JOE SERRA . . . . . . . . . . 404 4.38

Republicans
CHRIS LAUZEN . . . . . . . . . 2,657 34.16
JIM OBERWEIS . . . . . . . . . 4,957 63.72
MICHAEL J. DILGER. . . . . . . . 165 2.12

11:55 p.m.: Bureau County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH (D) 30 40.0%
JOTHAM STEIN (D) 1 1.3%
BILL FOSTER (D) 41 54.7%
JOE SERRA (D) 3 4.0%

Republicans
CHRIS LAUZEN (R) 29 33.0%
JIM OBERWEIS (R) 50 56.8%
MICHAEL DILGER (R) 9 10.2%

11:57 p.m.: Henry County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH. . . . . . . . . . 1,263 54.72
JOTHAM STEIN . . . . . . . . . 154 6.67
BILL FOSTER. . . . . . . . . . 731 31.67
JOE SERRA . . . . . . . . . . 160 6.93

Republicans
CHRIS LAUZEN . . . . . . . . . 1,044 39.09
JIM OBERWEIS . . . . . . . . . 1,566 58.63
MICHAEL J. DILGER. . . . . . . . 61 2.28

11:58 p.m.: Lee County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH D 1514 48.11%
JOTHAM STEIN D 227 7.21%
BILL FOSTER D 1271 40.39%
JOE SERRA D 135 4.29%

Republicans
CHRIS LAUZEN R 1579 35.50%
JIM OBERWEIS R 2728 61.33%
MICHAEL J. DILGER R 141 3.17%

11:59 p.m.: Whiteside County final totals:

Democrats
JOHN LAESCH D 568 46.60%
JOTHAM STEIN D 153 12.55%
BILL FOSTER D 416 34.13%
JOE SERRA D 82 6.73%

Republicans
CHRIS LAUZEN R 321 42.40%
JIM OBERWEIS R 404 53.37%
MICHAEL J. DILGER R 32 4.23%

12:07 a.m.: According to those numbers, Foster leads 29,729 to 29,581 with only four Kane precincts still out. That's a much closer race than the most recent Sun-Times/AP numbers show with 40 precincts still out. The numbers aren't matching up somewhere.

12:20 a.m. After double-checking the numbers (except for Kendall, whose Web site is down), only Aurora has changed its numbers.

JOHN LAESCH (D) 3646 35.6%
JOTHAM STEIN (D) 827 8.1%
BILL FOSTER (D) 4721 46.1%
JOE SERRA (D) 1039 10.2%

That still puts Foster up by only 148 votes. (29,767 to 29,915)

12:27 a.m.: Mystery man Michael Dilger just called reporter Andre Salles to tell him he called Oberweis to concede. Good thing. Oberweis was probably sweating the outcome. His quote: "I got 1,000 votes for doing nothing." Join the club. A Dilger/Serra ticket would be unstoppable.

12:29 p.m.: The latest Sun-Times/AP numbers are coming in higher for the vote totals with more precincts still left out than we counted. We're not sure where the discrepancy lies. Either way, the margin is only hundreds of votes.

U.S. House - District 14 - Dem Primary
Illinois - 555 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 98%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Foster , Bill Dem 31,494 43%
Laesch , John Dem 31,019 42%
Serra , Joe Dem 5,865 8%
Stein , Jotham Dem 5,604 8%

12:32 a.m.: The Associated Press has moved its final numbers for the 14th District. Again, the numbers are higher than what we're getting adding together the numbers from the different Web sites. The AP has Foster winning by about 300 votes out of more than 75,000 cast. That's incredible.

568 of 568 precincts - 100 percent
Bill Foster 31,910 - 42 percent
John Laesch 31,587 - 42 percent
Joe Serra 5,947 - 8 percent
Jotham Stein 5,757 - 8 percent

12:36 a.m.: Besting Dilger, Serra got 5,947 votes for doing and spending nothing. Jotham Stein got 5,757 for spending more than $170,000. In the end, he spent about $30 per vote.

12:39 a.m.: No one is calling this race yet on the Democratic side. The Laesch campaign has already said they will talk to their attorneys about looking at all the election problems voters experienced in Aurora. With such a slim margin, that's not surprising. The Laesch campaign also said they now think the early-voting totals were in fact included in the totals.

12:45 a.m.: Final GOP numbers:

U.S. House - District 14 - GOP Primary
Illinois - 568 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 100%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Oberweis , Jim GOP 43,909 56%
Lauzen , Chris GOP 32,027 41%
Dilger , Michael GOP 1,826 2%

Republican vote total: 77,762; Democratic vote total: 75,201. We could have a real contest in the general elections.

12:48 a.m.: Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham says the AP numbers are correct, despite the county's Web site still showing some precincts out, and they account for early voting and all the absentee ballots received so far.

1:05 a.m.: The final numbers coming in from the physical Kane County clerk's office are higher than originally reported on the Web site: 13,369 for Laesch and 15,814 for Foster. That should account for the discrepency.

1:14 a.m.: Bill Foster has claimed victory. We'll see.

(Geneva, IL) - Bill Foster looks forward to facing long-time Republican candidate Jim Oberweis in the race to replace former Speaker Dennis Hastert. The surprising Democratic strength displayed by 14th District voters demonstrates the competitiveness of the upcoming race.

Foster thanked voters late Tuesday night for their help in his victory.

Foster, a former Fermilab scientist and successful businessman, looks forward to the contest as an opportunity to deal with issues voters care about, such as the war in Iraq, the economy, and energy independence.

"From the beginning, I've talked about voters responding to my positive message of solving problems. I feel that, after a spirited discussion, voters will choose change," Foster said.

That's a wrap for Super Tuesday.