The campaign office of Illinois Supreme Court Judge Lloyd Karmeier released a statement this (Wednesday) afternoon, saying that unofficial retention numbers have come in and the judge has been retained for Illinois' 5th Judicial Circuit.

Karmeier's campaign says that the numbers are close, but they say the 60-percent threshold has been achieved and they're cautiously optimistic that the numbers may continued to edge up.

Karmeier's retention campaign was the target of a multi-million dollar advertising campaign by trial lawyers to derail his continued service on the high court. Karmeier's campaign claims the trial lawyers have several cases coming before the high court, and didn't want the Republic judge on the court to hear them.