Didn’t Keyes actually get MORE votes in his short fill-in run than Topinka did running for Governor?
Yep, he did (28% to 25%).
Keyes is a true Republican/conservative. He wasn't truely accepted by the state party, so the votes he got were by the conservatives left in the state. The Republican party in Illinois would probably resemble the Democrat party in any other normal state.
With Topinka getting less than Keyes, I think those who did vote for Topinka just held their noses. I think the rest of the party stayed home.
The fact that Keyes got a larger percentage of R votes than Topinka speaks volumes. He came in soooo late into the campaign he never had a chance. He never was truely backed by the party. And yet he got a larger percentage of the R vote. That tells me that the Repubs/conservatives who did vote were more interested in what Keyes had to offer and his direction than they were for Topinkas.
Topinka reminds me of a (somewhat) female version of Richie Daley. She's no different than any democrat in the state.