But as the clock ticked, the questions and accusations grew louder: What was wrong in Lake County? Was this more politics as usual in a county often suspected of harboring Chicago-style corruption?
Lake County's history of corruption raised concerns that something more suspicious had gone wrong.
In 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy called Lake County one of the most corrupt counties in the nation. In 2004, the state Supreme Court tossed out a mayoral election in East Chicago because of campaign misconduct that resulted in dozens of voter-fraud convictions.