Quinn has refused to concede defeat before

The last time Pat Quinn refused to concede he held out for five weeks.

It was 1998, and he was running for lieutenant governor against Mary Lou Kearns in the Democratic Primary.

He finally did concede, and endorsed Kearns, who went on to lose the general election with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Glenn Poshard.

They were beaten by Republican George Ryan.

But even when he conceded five weeks after the polls closed, Quinn warned voters not to write him off.

“I’m not signing my politicial epitaph here,” Quinn said in 1998. “As long as Pat Quinn’s around and the water flows and the grass grows, I’ll be organizing for some kind of public interest cause.”