ILLINOIS

20 Electoral Votes

Population  (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, State Board of Elections) Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est. 12,875,255 Total Registration, Oct. 9, 2012   7,346,413 (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: Pat Quinn (D) sworn in Jan. 29, 2009; elected 2010. State Legislature: Illinois General Assembly  House: 118 seats  Senate: 59 seats Local: Counties  NACO Counties U.S. House: 11R, 8D - 1. B.Rush (D) | 2. J.Jackson Jr (D) | 3. W.Lipinski (D) | 4. L.Gutierrez (D) | 5. M.Quigley (D) | 6. P.Roskam (R) | 7. D.Davis (D) | 8. Joe Walsh (R) | 9. J.Schakowsky (D) | 10. R.Dold (R) | 11. A.Kinzinger (R) | 12. J.Costello (D) | 13. J.Biggert (R) | 14. R.Hultgren (R) | 15. T.Johnson (R) | 16. D.Manzullo (R) | 17. B.Schilling (R) | 18. A.Schock (R) | 19. J.Shimkus (R).  U.S. Senate: Richard Durbin (D) re-elected in 2008, Mark Kirk (R) elected 2010 (sworn in Nov. 29).  2012 Overview: Democrats' control of redistricting resulted in major gains in congressional and state legislative races. U.S. House: Illinois' delegation is reduced by one to 18.  One incumbent lost in the primary (Manzullo (R)), two retired (Costello (D) and Johnson (R)), and four were defeated, all Republicans (Biggert, Walsh, Dold and Schilling), taking the balance from 11R, 8D to 12D, 6R.  The state is sending six new members: 8. Tammy Duckworth (D), 10. Brad Schneider (D), 11. Bill Foster (D), 12. William Enyart (D), 13. Rodney Davis (R) and 17. Cheri Bustos (D).  The race in the 13th CD (Springfield area, formerly held by Rep. Johnson), was the third closest in the country; former congressional aide Rodney Davis (R) edged Dr. David Gill (D) by 1,002 votes. Post-election: In the 2nd CD, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. was handily re-elected, but announced his resignation on Nov. 21. State Legislature: Democrats strengthen their control over both chambers of the General Assembly.  All 118 House seats and 59 Senate seats were up.  The House went from 64D, 54R to 71D, 47R and the Senate from 35D, 24R to 40D, 19R.  Ballot Measure:  One proposed constitutional amendment requiring a three-fifths vote by governing bodies to increase public pension or retirement systems.

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

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

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]

Presidential Primary Election -- Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Total Voters Registered: 7,304,333.  Total Ballots Cast: 1,694,317.   23.20%.

The presidential primary election coincided with the general primary election.

Democrats Barack Obama 652,583 votes, Randall Terry 134 votes.

Republicans 69 Delegates: 3 RNC; 12 at-large; 54 by CD (3 x 18).  3.02% of the 2,286 Delegates. Official Results +Mitt Romney 435,859 46.69% Rick Santorum 326,778 35.01% Ron Paul 87,044 9.32% Newt Gingrich 74,482 7.98% Rick Perry 5,568 0.60% Buddy Roemer 3,723 0.40% Total 933,454 Details

On March 17, 2010, Gov. Pat Quinn signed SB 355 into law, moving the primary election from the first Tuesday in February to the third Tuesday in March.  Quinn stated, "“Having the general primary election in March will increase voter turnout and encourage the people to have a greater voice in the election process, which is what democracy is all about.  It provides voters with more time to delve into the issues and to know the candidates who seek to represent them.” [press release]

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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: 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

Copyright © 2002-13 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.