ILLINOIS 20 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State Board of Elections)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2016 est.
12,802,539
Total Registration, Nov. 2016
  7,789,500

(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: Bruce Rauner (R) elected 2014.
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. L.Gutierrez (D) | 5. M.Quigley (D) | 6. P.Roskam (R) | 7. D.Davis (D) | 8. T.Duckworth (D) | 9. J.Schakowsky (D) | 10. R.Dold (R) | 11.B.Foster (D) | 12. M.Bost (R) | 13. R.Davis (R) | 14. R.Hultgren (R) | 15. J.Shimkus (R) | 16. A.Kinzinger (R) | 17. C.Bustos (D)18. D.LaHood (R) >
U.S. Senate: Richard Durbin (D) re-elected in 2014, Mark Kirk (R) defeated in 2016 re-election bid. 
2016 U.S. Senate: Sen. Mark Kirk (R) was one of only two incumbent Senators defeated.  Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D) won with 3,012,940 votes (54.9%) to 2,184,692 (39.8%) with 175,988 (3.2%) for Kent McMillen (L) and 117,619 (2.1%) for Scott Summers (G).
U.S. House:
Democrats picked up one seat, shifting the balance from 10D, 8R to 11D, 7R.  In CD-10 (northern suburbs of Chicago up to Wisconsin border) former Rep. Brad Schneider (D) defeated Rep. Robert Dold (R) by 150,435 (52.6%) to 135,535 (47.4%).  This was the third contest between the two.  Dold first won the seat in 2010, lost to Schneider in 2012, and won in 2014.  CD-8 (Cook, DuPage and Kane Cos.) was an open seat due to Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D)'s Senate bid.  Businessman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) defeated DuPage County Commissioner Pete Dicianni (R) by 144,954 (58.3%) to 103,617 (41.7%).
State Legislature: All 118 House seats and 40 of the 59 Senate seats were up.  Republicans achieved marginal gains in both chambers.  The balance in the House went from 71D, 47R to 67D, 51R and in the Senate from 39D, 20R to 37D, 22R.
Ballot Measures:
Voters approved a constitutional amendment on transportation funds.  The Illinois Map Amendment, which would have reformed the redistricting process, did not make the ballot following a 4-3 decision by the Illinois Supreme Court.

 State of Illinois
State Board of Elections

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Libertarian Party of IL

Chicago Tribune
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Politics1-IL
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The Prairie State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Voting Eligible Population*: 8,943,045.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.9%.

Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 11, 2016.
Early Voting: Sept. 29-Nov. 7, 2016.

Total Registration: 7,789,500.


Official Results >


+Clinton/Kaine (Dem.)
3,090,729
(55.83)
Trump/Pence (Rep.)
2,146,015
(38.76)
Johnson/Weld (Lib.)
209,596
(3.79)
Stein/Baraka (Grn.)
76,802
(1.39)
write-ins - 27*
13,282
(0.24)
Total........5,536,424


Of the write-in votes, Evan McMullin obtained 11,655 (0.2%), Darrell Castle 1,138 and the other 25 candidates 489 votes.
Overview: As expected, the Clinton-Kaine ticket rolled to a double-digit win, amassing a plurality of 944,714 votes (17.07 percentage points).  Clinton carried just 11 counties to 91 for Trump, but she tallied a plurality of 1,158,659 votes (1,611,946 to 453,287) in Cook County, which accounted for 39.0% (2,158,615 of 5,536,424) of the total votes cast in the presidential race. 
General Election Details

[BOEClinton  |  Trump
BALLOT [PDF]

Presidential Primary Election -- Tuesday, March 15, 2016
USEP: Voting Age Pop.: 9,907,466.  Voting Eligible Pop.:9,105,796.  Total Ballots Cast: 3,505,795.  VEP Turnout Rate: 38.9%.
Total Voters Registered: 7,666,763.
The presidential primary election coincided with the general primary election.
Democrats
182 Delegates: 102 District, 34 At-Large, 20 PLEO, 26 Unpledged.

details
Republicans
69 Delegates: 3 RNC; 12 at-large; 54 by CD (3 x 18). 

details


General Election Winners in Illinois, 1992-2012
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Clinton
48.58%
Clinton
54.31%
Gore
54.60%
Kerry
54.82%
Obama
61.92%
Obama
57.60%
  and the details...
 
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: 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