SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – If a Chicago Teachers Union press release is any indication, Big Labor is very worried about the results of Illinois’ primary election.

On Tuesday, voters largely defended incumbents who have courageously voted in favor of pension reform over the loud objections of organized labor.

A Chicago Tribune editorial notes that voters also selected “newcomers who had spoken truthfully about the painful job ahead to repair (the) state’s finances and put Illinois back to work.”

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“Efforts by organized labor to defeat candidates who supported pension reform largely failed around the state,” the Tribune editorial notes.

Which brings us to the Chicago Teachers Union’s press release.

In the aftermath of the vote results, the CTU was desperate to prove that labor hadn’t been beaten as soundly as reported. The teachers union highlighted the handful of races that went its way and offered a list of eight “lessons learned” from the primary.

It was all quite pathetic.

Two of the CTU’s “lessons learned” can be summed up this way: A pair of anti-union candidates didn’t win by as wide a margin as predicted, thereby signaling Big Labor’s can-do spirit and strength.

That’s a pretty good indication that union leaders won’t be getting much peaceful sleep between now and the general election in November.

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But CTU’s succinct “lesson eight” is the most telling: “This ain’t Wisconsin.”

That’s a reference to the Badger State’s collective bargaining-reform pushed by first term Gov. Scott Walker, who has turned the state’s financial fortunes around, in part by reining in public employee wages and benefits.

The nation’s labor unions have made Walker their top political target, but have failed to lay a glove on him.

And now that GOP gubernatorial primary winner Bruce Rauner has a chance to win in November and likely would pursue a Walker-like agenda – well, it has the CTU and the rest of the state’s labor unions feeling very nervous.

The unions contributed big money to try to defeat Rauner in the primary, and now they’re faced with a choice between Ruauner and Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who’s being sued by the same unions over his support of the pension bill.

The Chicago Tribune editorial concludes that the primary results are a “good sign” that voters are sophisticated enough to understand the state’s dire financial condition and to reward courageous leaders who take bold action.

The CTU says Illinois isn’t Wisconsin, but it looks as if primary voters would like it to be.