ILLINOIS

20 Electoral Votes

Population  (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State Board of Elections) Total Resident Population, July 1, 2019 est. 12,671,821 Total Registration, Nov. 2020   8,364,099 (Illinois voters do not register by party).  Illinois has: 102 counties. Largest counties (five over 500,000): Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane. Largest cities (eight over 100,000): Chicago, Aurora, Rockford, Joliet, Naperville, Springfield, Peoria, Elgin.  Government Governor: J.B. Pritzker (D) elected 2018. State Legislature: Illinois General Assembly  House: 118 seats  Senate: 59 seats Local: Communities   NACO U.S. House: 10D, 8R - 1. B.Rush (D) | 2. R.Kelly (D) | 3. D.Lipinski (D) | 4..C.Garcia (D) | 5. M.Quigley (D) | 6. S.Casten (D) | 7. D.Davis (D) | 8. R.Krishnamoorthi (D) | 9. J.Schakowsky (D) | 10. B.Schneider (D) | 11.B.Foster (D) | 12. M.Bost (R) | 13. R.Davis (R) | 14. L.Underwood (D) | 15. J.Shimkus (R) | 16. A.Kinzinger (R) | 17. C.Bustos (D) |  18. D.LaHood (R).  > U.S. Senate: Richard Durbin (D) seeking re-election in 2020, Tammy Duckworth (D) elected in 2016.  2020 U.S. Senate: Sen. Dick Durbin (D), first elected to the Senate in 1996, won a fifth term.  He obtained 3,278,930 votes (54.93%) to 2,319,870 (38.87%) for former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran (R), 237,699 (3.98%) for Willie Wilson (I), 75,673 (1.27%) for Danny Malouf (L), and 56,711 for David Black (G). U.S. House: There were two open seats; neither changed partisan control. - In CD-3 (southwestern Chicago), moderate Rep. Dan Lipinski (D), first elected in 2004, lost the March 3 primary in a rematch to more progressive business consultant Marie Newman (D); she then defeated Mike Fricilone (R), a member of the Will County Board, by 172,997 (56.38%) to 133,851 (43.63%). - In CD-15 (in eastern and southeastern IL) Rep. John Shimkus (R), first elected in 1996 is retiring.  Farmer/business manager Mary Miller (R) easily defeated Erika Weaver (D), an assistant public defender in Coles County, garnering 73.45% of the vote. In addition, the race in CD-14 (surrounds the northern and western suburbs of Chicago) was very competitive; Rep. Lauren Underwood (D) won a second term, defeating businessman Jim Oberweis (R) by 203,209 votes (50.67%) to 197,835 (49.33%). State Legislature: 26 of the 59 Senate seats were up and all 118 House seats were up.  The balance in the Senate went from 40D,19R to 41D,18R and in the House from 73D,44R and 1v to 72D,46R. Ballot Measures: Voters defeated the one proposed constitutional amendment by 53.27% to 46.73%.  The proposal would have removed the "flat tax" provision from the Illinois Constitution, allowing for a graduated income tax where the State has "the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle or lower income levels."  (Required 60-percent of the votes cast on the measure or half of all votes cast to pass). Vote Yes for Fairness, Vote Yes for a Fair Tax  |  The Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike, Say No to More Taxes

State of Illinois State Board of Elections Democratic Party of IL IL Republican Party Libertarian Party of IL IL Green Party Constitution Party of IL Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun-Times Media (Newsp.), 2 TV, Radio Capitol Fax Illinois Review Politics1-IL Ballotpedia-IL The Prairie State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 3, 2020

First day of early voting. Sept. 24, 2020. ILSBOE

Official Results >   +Biden/Harris (Dem.) 3,471,915 (57.54) Trump/Pence (Rep.) 2,446,891 (40.55) Jorgensen/Cohen (Lib.) 66,544 (1.10) Hawkins/Walker (Grn.) 30,494 (0.51) Carroll/Patel (ASP) 9,548 (0.16) La Riva/Peltier (PSL) 8,046 (0.13) others 306 Total........6,033,744 Total votes cast: 6,098,729.   Ballot Access: On April 23, 2020 U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer issued an important ruling easing ballot access for third party and independent candidates due to the pandemic.

Overview: Illinois' 20 electoral votes remained solidly in the Democratic column.  Biden-Harris amassed a plurality of 1,025,024 votes (16.99 percentage points), carrying 14 counties to 88 for Trump.  Cook County accounted for 38.5% of votes cast in the presidential race; of 2,321,483 votes, Biden obtained 1,725,973 (74.35%) and Trump 558,269 (24.05%) for a margin of 1,167,704 votes.  Biden also carried seven other counties in the Chicago area and six around the state (Champaign, Jackson, McLean, Peoria, Rock Island, St. Claire).  Chicago-area progressives organized a major campaign of calls, texts and postcards to support Biden in the neighboring states of Michigan and Wisconsin. [ILSBOE]   BALLOT [PDF] See also: Dan Mihalopoulos.  "Illinois Democrats Make A Big Push For Biden In Wisconsin And Michigan."  WBEZ, Nov. 2, 2020. +

Presidential and General Primary Election -- Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Voter registration 8,036,534.  Total ballots cast 2,279,439.  Turnout 2,279,439.

The presidential primary election coincided with the general primary election.

Democrats Biden 986,661 (58.94%), Sanders 605,701 (36.18%)...  Total 1,674,133 [1,705,047].  details 182 Delegates: 101 District, 34 At-Large, 20 PLEO, 27 Unpledged.

Republicans Trump 520,956 (95.98%), De La Fuente 21,833 (4.02%), Mayers 11.  Total 542,800 [563,512].

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General Election Winners in Illinois, 1992-2016

1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016
Clinton 48.58%	Clinton 54.31%	Gore 54.60%	Kerry 54.82%	Obama 61.92%	Obama 57.60%	Clinton 55.83%

General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Voting Eligible Population*: 8,903,001. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 58.9%. Voter Registration Deadline: October 9, 2012. Early Voting: October 15-November 1, 2012. Total Registration: 7,346,413.

Official Results > +Obama/Biden (Dem.) 3,019,512 (57.60) Romney/Ryan (Rep.) 2,135,216 (40.73) Johnson/Gray (Lib.) 56,229 (1.07) Stein/Hawkins (Grn.) 30,222 (0.58) write-in 835 Total........5,242,014

2012 Overview As expected Obama easily carried his home state, gaining a plurality of 884,296 votes (16.87 percentage points).  The Obama/Biden ticket carried 23 counties to 79 for Romney.  Obama's national headquarters was in Chicago, and the campaign also organized in the state.  The candidates made some visits to Chicago and environs (+).  Note the significant decrease in voter registration — down more than 440,000 compared to in the 2008 general election. Obama  |  Romney BALLOT [PDF]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 8,794,625. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.8%. Total Registration: 7,789,500.

Official Results > +Obama/Biden (Dem.) 3,419,673 (61.92) McCain/Palin (Rep.) 2,031,527 (36.78) Nader/Gonazalez (Indep.) 30,952 (0.56) Barr/Root (Lib.) 19,645 (0.36) McKinney/Clemente (Grn.) 11,838 (0.21) Baldwin/Castle (Const.) 8,256 (0.15) Palachek/No Candidate (New) 1,149 (0.02) others 11 Total........5,523,051 Total ballots cast: 5,578,195

2008 Overview Sen. Obama amassed a plurality of 1,388,146 votes (25.14 percentage points) in his home state.  Sen. McCain carried 56 counties to 46 for Obama.  Cook County accounted for about 39 percent of votes cast in the presidential race (2,137,466 of the 5,523,051), providing a plurality of 1,141,288 votes for Obama. Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population*: 8,576,696. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.5%. Total Registration: 7,499,488. Deadline to register to vote is October 5, 2004 (27 days prior to the election).

Official Results +Kerry/Edwards (Dem.) 2,891,550 (54.82) Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 2,345,946 (44.48) Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 32,442 (0.62) Nader 2,357 (0.04) Nader 1,214 (0.02) Peroutka 440 -  Cobb 241 - Others (9) 132 - Total........5,274,322   Total ballots cast: 5,350,493

2004 Overview Although the Democratic margin was slightly reduced, Kerry-Edwards easily carried Illinois, gaining a plurality of 545,604 votes (10.34 percentage points).  Kerry carried only 15 counties to 87 for Bush.  Cook County again accounted for about 39 percent of the votes cast in the presidential race (2,049,434 of 5,274,322), providing a plurality for Kerry of 842,319 votes. General Election Details Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 8,432,600. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.2%. Total Registration:  7,129,026.

Official Results +Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 2,589,026  (54.60) Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 2,019,421 (42.58) Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 103,759 (2.19) Buchanan/Foster (Ind.) 16,106 (0.34) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 11,623 (0.25) Hagelin/Goldhaber (Ref.) 2,127  (0.05) Howard Phillips   57 -  David McReynolds 4 -  Total........4,742,123

2000 Overview Illinois remained solidly in the Democratic column as the Gore-Lieberman ticket won with a plurality of 569,605 votes (12.02 percentage points).  Gore carried a total of 24 counties to Bush's 78.  Cook County, which accounted for 39% of the votes cast in the race for president (1,865,907 of 4,742,123), provided a plurality of 746,005 votes for Gore. General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

Archive Pages: 2016 | 2012 | 2008 | 2004 | 2000

1992 Clinton (Dem.).....2,453,350 (48.58) Bush (Rep.)........1,734,096 (34.34) Perot (Ind.) ...........840,515 (16.64) Others(5+w/ins).......22,196 (0.44) Total........5,050,157

1996 Clinton (Dem.)....2,341,744  (54.31) Dole (Rep.)........1,587,021  (36.81) Perot (Ref.)...........346,408 (8.03) Others (3+w/ins).....36,218 (0.84) Total........4,311,391

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