1960 United States presidential election in Illinois explained

See main article: 1960 United States presidential election.

Election Name:1960 United States presidential election in Illinois
Country:Illinois
Flag Year:1915
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1956 United States presidential election in Illinois
Previous Year:1956
Next Election:1964 United States presidential election in Illinois
Next Year:1964
Election Date:November 8, 1960[1]
Image1:Jfk2 (3x4).jpg
Nominee1:John F. Kennedy
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Running Mate1:Lyndon B. Johnson
Electoral Vote1:27
Popular Vote1:2,377,846
Percentage1:49.98%
Nominee2:Richard Nixon
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:California
Running Mate2:Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:2,368,988
Percentage2:49.80%
Map Size:350px
President
Before Election:Dwight D. Eisenhower
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:John F. Kennedy
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)
Turnout:86.51%

The 1960 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the 1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 27[2] representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

In the nation's second-closest race following Hawaii, Illinois was won by Senator John F. Kennedy (DMassachusetts), running with Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, with 49.98% of the popular vote against incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon (R–California), running with former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., with 49.80% of the popular vote, a margin of victory of only 0.18%.[3] [4] As of 2020 this is the last time that a Democrat would win Illinois by only a single digit margin of victory.

Primaries

Turnout

Turnout in the state-run primary elections (Democratic and Republican) was 16.43% with a total of 836,458 votes cast.[5]

Turnout during the general election was 86.51%, with 4,757,409 votes cast.[5] Both major parties held non-binding state-run preferential primaries on April 12.

Democratic

Election Name:1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1956 Illinois Democratic presidential primary
Previous Year:1956
Next Election:1964 Illinois Democratic presidential primary
Next Year:1964
Type:presidential
Country:Illinois
Candidate1:John F. Kennedy
Color1:1E90FF
Home State1:Massachusetts
Popular Vote1:34,332
Percentage1:64.57%
Candidate2:Adlai Stevenson II
Home State2:Illinois
Popular Vote2:8,029
Percentage2:15.10%
Candidate3:Stuart Symington
Home State3:Missouri
Popular Vote3:5,744
Percentage3:10.80%
Candidate4:Hubert Humphrey
Color4:FFA500
Home State4:Minnesota
Popular Vote4:4,283
Percentage4:8.06%
Map Size:280px

The 1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.

The popular vote was a non-binding "beauty contest".[6] Delegates were instead elected by direct votes by congressional district on delegate candidates.[7] [8]

All candidates were write-ins. Kennedy ran a write-in campaign, and no candidate actively ran against him in Illinois.[6]

Not all of the vote-getters had been declared candidates. Johnson, Stevenson, and Symington had all sat out the primaries.

Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, head of the Cook County Democratic Party, promised to deliver Kennedy the support of Cook County's delegates, so long as Kennedy won competitive primaries in other states.[6]

1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary[9] [10]
CandidateVotesPercentage
John F. Kennedy (write-in)34,332 64.57%
Adlai Stevenson (write-in)8,02915.10%
Stuart Symington (write-in)5,74410.80%
Hubert Humphrey (write-in)4,2838.06%
Lyndon B. Johnson (write-in)4420.83%
Others3370.63%
Totals53,167100.00%

Republican

Election Name:1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1956 Illinois Republican presidential primary
Previous Year:1956
Next Election:1964 Illinois Republican presidential primary
Next Year:1964
Candidate1:Richard Nixon
Color1:FF8080
Home State1:California
Popular Vote1:782,849
Percentage1:99.94%
Map Size:100px

The 1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.

The preference vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional district on delegate candidates.[7] [8]

Nixon ran unopposed in the primary.

1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary
PartyCandidateVotesPercentage
RepublicanRichard Nixon782,849 99.94%
width: 3px" Write-inOthers4420.1%
Totals783,291100.00%

Analysis

Some, including Republican legislators and journalists, believed that Kennedy benefited from vote fraud from Mayor Richard J. Daley's powerful Chicago political machine.[11]

Daley's machine was known for "delivering whopping Democratic tallies by fair means and foul." Republicans tried and failed to overturn the results at the time—as well as in ten other states.[12] Some journalists also later claimed that mobster Sam Giancana and his Chicago crime syndicate "played a role" in Kennedy's victory.[12] Nixon's campaign staff urged him to pursue recounts and challenge the validity of Kennedy's victory, but Nixon gave a speech three days after the election that he would not contest the election.[13]

A myth arose that Daley held back much of the Chicago vote until the late morning hours of November 9. However, when the Republican Chicago Tribune went to press, 79% of Cook County precincts had reported, compared to just 62% of Illinois's precincts overall. Moreover, Nixon never led in Illinois, and Kennedy's lead merely shrank as election night went on.[14] Earl Mazo, a reporter for the pro-Nixon New York Herald Tribune and his biographer, investigated the voting in Chicago and "claimed to have discovered sufficient evidence of vote fraud to prove that the state was stolen for Kennedy."[11]

A special prosecutor assigned to the case brought charges against 650 people, who were acquitted by a judge who was considered a "Daley machine loyalist."[13] [12] Three Chicago election workers were convicted of voter fraud in 1962 and served short terms in jail.[13] Mazo, the Herald-Tribune reporter, later said that he "found names of the dead who had voted in Chicago, along with 56 people from one house."[13] He found cases of Republican voter fraud in southern Illinois but said that the totals "did not match the Chicago fraud he found."[13]

An academic study in 1985 later analyzed the ballots of two disputed precincts in Chicago which were subject to a recount. It found that while there was a pattern of miscounting votes to the advantage of Democratic candidates, Nixon suffered less than Republicans in other races, and the extrapolated error would have reduced his Illinois margin only from 8,858 votes, the final official total, to just under 8,000. It concluded there was insufficient evidence that he had been cheated out of winning Illinois.

Even if enough legitimate systemic fraud was discovered in Illinois to give Nixon the state, that alone would not have been enough to win him the presidency. Kennedy would've still been left with 276 electoral votes, seven more than what he needed to win the White House.

Recount

Ben Adamowski, a Republican who lost reelection as Cook County State's Attorney to Democratic nominee Daniel P. Ward, requested a recount of the state's attorney race. Republicans sought to use this recount, as they could not order a recount of the presidential results, to prove that fraud had been committed in the presidential election. Sidney Holzman, the chair of the Board of Election Commissioners, stated that only the three BEC members could handle the ballots and would only recount the ballots for the state's attorney election. Judge Thaddeus Adesko ruled that twenty-five teams of counters had to be used and that the other elections would be included in the recount.

The recount was finished on December 9, and showed that in six towns around Chicago mistakes of ten votes or more in favor of Kennedy occurred in 3.1% of the precincts, those in favor of Nixon occurred in 2.6%, and those in favor of third-parties occurred in 4.8%. 11% of the precincts in Chicago had errors of ten votes of more in Kennedy's favor and 8.6% in Nixon's favor. Kennedy's vote was overcounted in 38% of Chicago's precincts while Nixon's vote was overcounted in 40%. Nixon's total was increased by 926 votes.

Republicans accused the election commission of manipulating the recount and Adamowski successfully sued for another recount in 1961, although only his election was recounted. The original recount increased his vote total by 9.073 while the second one increased his total by 12.694 per precinct.

Results

Results by county

CountyJohn F. Kennedy
Democratic
Richard Nixon
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Adams14,82744.22%18,67455.70%280.08%-3,847-11.48%33,529
Alexander4,47751.83%4,14347.96%180.21%3343.87%8,638
Bond2,85639.88%4,29760.00%90.13%-1,441-20.12%7,162
Boone2,60528.43%6,55271.51%50.05%-3,947-43.08%9,162
Brown1,84949.44%1,88950.51%20.05%-40-1.07%3,740
Bureau7,78638.15%12,59761.73%240.12%-4,811-23.58%20,407
Calhoun1,60849.22%1,65450.63%50.15%-46-1.41%3,267
Carroll3,09732.88%6,28266.70%390.41%-3,185-33.82%9,418
Cass3,69247.85%4,01552.04%80.10%-323-4.19%7,715
Champaign17,11537.66%27,79361.16%5331.17%-10,678-23.50%45,441
Christian10,20752.38%9,26347.54%150.08%9444.84%19,485
Clark3,94942.59%5,31957.36%50.05%-1,370-14.77%9,273
Clay3,39439.75%5,13460.13%100.12%-1,740-20.38%8,538
Clinton6,18851.99%5,70947.96%60.05%4794.03%11,903
Coles8,62941.46%12,16658.45%190.09%-3,537-16.99%20,814
Cook1,378,34356.37%1,059,60743.33%7,3190.30%318,73613.04%2,445,269
Crawford4,24538.39%6,80961.58%40.04%-2,564-23.19%11,058
Cumberland2,47545.00%3,02054.91%50.09%-545-9.91%5,500
DeKalb6,78330.30%15,58669.62%190.08%-8,803-39.32%22,388
DeWitt3,60741.51%5,07458.40%80.09%-1,467-16.89%8,689
Douglas3,53237.98%5,76161.95%60.06%-2,229-23.97%9,299
DuPage44,26330.43%101,01469.45%1680.12%-56,751-39.02%145,445
Edgar5,02440.59%7,34859.37%40.03%-2,324-18.78%12,376
Edwards1,44630.47%3,29169.36%80.17%-1,845-38.89%4,745
Effingham5,67646.94%6,41053.01%60.05%-734-6.07%12,092
Fayette4,90742.65%6,58657.25%110.10%-1,679-14.60%11,504
Ford2,69831.82%5,77968.16%10.01%-3,081-36.34%8,478
Franklin11,36848.86%11,86150.98%370.16%-493-2.12%23,266
Fulton10,19445.81%11,99953.93%580.26%-1,805-8.12%22,251
Gallatin2,38652.21%2,17947.68%50.11%2074.53%4,570
Greene3,84746.10%4,48753.78%100.12%-640-7.68%8,344
Grundy4,27638.08%6,94861.88%40.04%-2,672-23.80%11,228
Hamilton2,63940.89%3,80458.94%110.17%-1,165-18.05%6,454
Hancock4,94738.08%8,03661.86%70.05%-3,089-23.78%12,990
Hardin1,46542.92%1,94456.96%40.12%-479-14.04%3,413
Henderson1,69739.71%2,57260.19%40.09%-875-20.48%4,273
Henry10,37242.01%14,29757.91%210.09%-3,925-15.90%24,690
Iroquois5,82133.82%11,37666.09%160.09%-5,555-32.27%17,213
Jackson8,52744.62%10,56855.30%170.09%-2,041-10.68%19,112
Jasper3,02747.14%3,39352.84%10.02%-366-5.70%6,421
Jefferson7,78444.16%9,84155.84%00.00%-2,057-11.68%17,625
Jersey4,08748.99%4,24750.90%90.11%-160-1.91%8,343
Jo Daviess4,29341.21%6,11158.66%130.12%-1,818-17.45%10,417
Johnson1,41333.67%2,77866.19%60.14%-1,365-32.52%4,197
Kane31,27936.05%55,38963.84%930.11%-24,110-27.79%86,761
Kankakee17,11545.70%20,31154.23%260.07%-3,196-8.53%37,452
Kendall2,24227.25%5,97572.62%110.13%-3,733-45.37%8,228
Knox11,88939.83%17,93860.09%230.08%-6,049-20.26%29,850
Lake46,94140.85%67,80959.02%1490.13%-20,868-18.17%114,899
LaSalle27,53249.94%27,55249.98%410.07%-20-0.04%55,125
Lawrence3,66737.42%6,12062.45%130.13%-2,453-25.03%9,800
Lee5,89635.22%10,83564.73%80.05%-4,939-29.51%16,739
Livingston6,64233.57%13,13966.42%20.01%-6,497-32.85%19,783
Logan5,69137.71%9,38362.18%160.11%-3,692-24.47%15,090
Macon26,02948.85%27,15150.95%1080.20%-1,122-2.10%53,288
Macoupin13,12052.70%11,73147.12%450.18%1,3895.58%24,896
Madison54,78755.96%42,98443.90%1330.14%11,80312.06%97,904
Marion9,11645.02%11,12154.92%130.06%-2,005-9.90%20,250
Marshall2,98141.76%4,15058.14%70.10%-1,169-16.38%7,138
Mason3,82446.75%4,33753.02%190.23%-513-6.27%8,180
Massac2,64436.87%4,52163.05%60.08%-1,877-26.18%7,171
McDonough4,52032.53%9,36367.39%100.07%-4,843-34.86%13,893
McHenry12,65932.87%25,78766.97%620.16%-13,128-34.10%38,508
McLean13,97136.04%24,75863.87%320.08%-10,787-27.83%38,761
Menard2,06839.82%3,12060.08%50.10%-1,052-20.26%5,193
Mercer3,47638.36%5,58261.60%30.03%-2,106-23.24%9,061
Monroe3,39841.78%4,73158.17%40.05%-1,333-16.39%8,133
Montgomery8,81548.95%9,17850.97%140.08%-363-2.02%18,007
Morgan7,25942.54%9,79157.38%120.07%-2,532-14.84%17,062
Moultrie3,07945.07%3,75254.93%00.00%-673-9.86%6,831
Ogle4,79226.59%13,22673.38%70.04%-8,434-46.79%18,025
Peoria39,06146.13%45,52953.77%860.10%-6,468-7.64%84,676
Perry4,95842.48%6,70857.47%60.05%-1,750-14.99%11,672
Piatt2,88939.05%4,50660.90%40.05%-1,617-21.85%7,399
Pike5,46147.75%5,96552.16%100.09%-504-4.41%11,436
Pope97136.44%1,68963.38%50.19%-718-26.94%2,665
Pulaski2,32246.81%2,62152.83%180.36%-299-6.02%4,961
Putnam1,16044.29%1,45755.63%20.08%-297-11.34%2,619
Randolph7,34447.85%7,98852.05%150.10%-644-4.20%15,347
Richland3,01536.09%5,32963.80%90.11%-2,314-27.71%8,353
Rock Island33,81250.88%32,53448.96%1080.16%1,2781.92%66,454
Saline6,83543.52%8,85356.36%190.12%-2,018-12.84%15,707
Sangamon35,79346.28%41,48353.64%590.08%-5,690-7.36%77,335
Schuyler2,11540.96%3,04759.00%20.04%-932-18.04%5,164
Scott1,54340.46%2,26759.44%40.10%-724-18.98%3,814
Shelby5,72045.39%6,87254.53%110.09%-1,152-9.14%12,603
St. Clair67,36761.38%42,04638.31%3380.31%25,32123.07%109,751
Stark1,38332.06%2,92567.80%60.14%-1,542-35.74%4,314
Stephenson8,05536.62%13,87263.07%680.31%-5,817-26.45%21,995
Tazewell20,52146.09%23,96753.83%380.09%-3,446-7.74%44,526
Union4,32149.31%4,43250.58%100.11%-111-1.27%8,763
Vermilion19,70242.51%26,57157.34%690.15%-6,869-14.83%46,342
Wabash3,01341.40%4,26158.55%40.05%-1,248-17.15%7,278
Warren3,83534.66%7,22165.25%100.09%-3,386-30.59%11,066
Washington3,09337.92%5,05361.95%110.13%-1,960-24.03%8,157
Wayne3,95437.25%6,65262.67%90.08%-2,698-25.42%10,615
White4,75644.97%5,81054.93%110.10%-1,054-9.96%10,577
Whiteside9,11234.27%17,43465.56%460.17%-8,322-31.29%26,592
Will41,05649.04%42,57550.86%810.10%-1,519-1.82%83,712
Williamson11,33545.17%13,73254.72%290.12%-2,397-9.55%25,096
Winnebago40,09044.67%49,54155.20%1100.12%-9,451-10.53%89,741
Woodford4,40135.18%8,10164.76%70.06%-3,700-29.58%12,509
Totals2,377,84649.98%2,368,98849.80%10,5750.22%8,8580.18%4,757,409

See also

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Web site: United States Presidential election of 1960 - Encyclopædia Britannica. June 8, 2017.
  2. Web site: 1960 Election for the Forty-Fourth Term (1961-65). June 8, 2017.
  3. Web site: 1960 Presidential General Election Results - Illinois. June 8, 2017.
  4. Web site: The American Presidency Project - Election of 1960. June 8, 2017.
  5. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986 . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 10 April 2020 .
  6. Book: Oliphant . Thomas . Wilkie . Curtis . 2017 . The road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign . Simon & Schuster .
  7. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 8, 1960 JUDICIAL ELECTION 1959-1960 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 12 1960. Illinois State Board of Elections. 4 July 2020.
  8. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 8, 1960 JUDICIAL ELECTION 1959-1960 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 12 1960. Illinois State Board of Elections. 4 July 2020.
  9. Book: Illinois Blue Book 1959-1960 . 871. www.idaillinois.org . Illinois Secretary of State . 31 March 2020.
  10. Web site: RESULTS OF 1960 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PRIMARIES . . John F. Kennedy presidential library . January 18, 2019 .
  11. News: The fallacy of Nixon's graceful exit. . November 10, 2000. May 12, 2016.
  12. Was Nixon Robbed?. Greenberg. David. David Greenberg (writer). Slate. October 16, 2000.
  13. News: Another Race To the Finish. The Washington Post. November 17, 2000. May 12, 2016 .
  14. News: Here's a voter fraud myth: Richard Daley 'stole' Illinois for John Kennedy in the 1960 election?. von Hippel. Paul. Paul von Hippel (writer). The Washington Post. August 8, 2017 .