| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois elections |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1984 Illinois elections |
| Previous Year: | 1984 |
| Next Election: | 1988 Illinois elections |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Turnout: | 55.34% |
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1986.
Primaries were held March 18, 1986.
1986 was a midterm election year in the United States.
After LaRouche movement disciples won the Democratic primaries for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, Adlai Stevenson III created the Solidarity Party primarily to run Democratic candidates against them in the general election. He himself dropped off of the Democratic ticket for Governor, which he had won the primary for, and ran instead as the Solidarity Party candidate for Governor. The two Lyndon LaRouche-affiliated candidates, Mark J. Fairchild for Lieutenant Governor and Janice Hart for Secretary of State, had not seen their affiliations with LaRouche well-publicized until after they won their upset primary defeats over Stevenson-backed candidates George Sangmeister and Aurelia Pucinski.
Illinois law required any unestablished party to run a full slate in order to obtain ballot access,[1] thus, Stevenson ran candidates in all races.
Turnout in the primary was 26.23%, with 1,602,156 ballots cast. 1,014,908 Democratic and 570,661 Republican primary ballots were cast.[2]
Turnout in the general election was 55.34%, with 3,332,450 ballots cast.[3]
Illinois had a straight-ticket voting option in 1986.[3]
| Party | Number of straight-ticket votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | style=text-align:center | 107,788 | |
| Republican | style=text-align:center | 465,469 | |
| Allin Walker | style=text-align:center | 17 | |
| Illinois Solidarity | style=text-align:center | 1,901 | |
| Libertarian | style=text-align:center | 1,239 | |
| Quality Congressional Representation | style=text-align:center | 421 | |
| Socialist Workers | style=text-align:center | 358 |
See main article: 1986 United States Senate election in Illinois.
See also: 1986 United States Senate elections.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Alan Dixon was reelected.
See also: 1986 United States House of Representatives elections.
All Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1986.
See main article: 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election.
| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Illinois gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Illinois gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Image1: | File:Governor James Thompson 2 (3x4).jpg |
| Nominee1: | James R. Thompson |
| Running Mate1: | George Ryan |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,655,849 |
| Percentage1: | 52.7% |
| Nominee2: | Adlai Stevenson III |
| Party2: | Solidarity Party (Illinois) |
| Running Mate2: | Mike Howlett |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,256,626 |
| Percentage2: | 40.0% |
| Image3: | 3x4.svg |
| Nominee3: | No candidate |
| Party3: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Running Mate3: | Mark Fairchild |
| Popular Vote3: | 208,830 |
| Percentage3: | 6.6% |
| Map Size: | x300px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | James R. Thompson |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | James R. Thompson |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 52.37% |
Incumbent Governor James R. Thompson won reelection to a fourth term, defeating Adlai Stevenson III. This was a rematch of the previous 1982 gubernatorial election, which saw Stevenson as a Democratic nominee.
Stevenson, who had won the Democratic gubernatorial primary, withdrew from the Democratic ticket after Mark Fairchild, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Stevenson refused to run on a ticket with supporters of LaRouche's ideology. Stevenson instead created the Illinois Solidarity Party and ran as its nominee.
| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois Attorney General election |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Illinois Attorney General election |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Illinois Attorney General election |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Image1: | File:Attorney General Neil Hartigan (cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Neil Hartigan |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,925,012 |
| Percentage1: | 61.71% |
| Nominee2: | Bernard Carey |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,129,193 |
| Percentage2: | 36.20% |
| Map Size: | x300px |
| Attorney General | |
| Before Election: | Neil Hartigan |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Neil Hartigan |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 51.95% |
Incumbent Attorney General Neil Hartigan, a Democrat, was reelected to a second term.
Incumbent Neil Hartigan defeated Chicago alderman Martin J. Oberman in the Democratic primary.
Hartigan had originally declared his intention to forgo seeking reelection, and instead run for governor, but he ultimately reversed course and sought reelection after Adlai Stevenson III entered the race for governor.[4]
Republican Village President of Arlington Heights James T. Ryan won the Republican primary, running unopposed.[2] [5] Ryan stepped-down as nominee after allegations arose that he had committed domestic abuse against both his wife and ex-wife, which arose soon after he received his party's nomination.[5] [6]
There had been originally been several other candidates running for the Republican nomination in the primary, but all withdrew soon after Democratic incumbent Hartigan announced that he would seek reelection.
If he had been elected, Ryan would have been the first Republican sitting mayor elected to statewide office in Illinois since Edward C. Akin was elected Attorney General in 1898.
After Ryan withdrew as the Republican nominee, he was replaced on the ballot by Bernard Carey, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners who had also formerly served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1972 through 1980.[4] Ryan's withdrawal had taken place five months before the general election.[4]
| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois Secretary of State election |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Illinois elections#Secretary of State |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Illinois elections#Secretary of State |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Image1: | Jim Edgar circa 1987 bb 39878 full (3x4).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Jim Edgar |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,095,489 |
| Percentage1: | 67.16% |
| Nominee2: | Jane Spirgel |
| Party2: | Solidarity Party (Illinois) |
| Popular Vote2: | 521,410 |
| Percentage2: | 16.71% |
| Image3: | File:3x4.svg |
| Nominee3: | Janice Hart |
| Party3: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote3: | 478,361 |
| Percentage3: | 15.33% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Secretary of State | |
| Before Election: | Jim Edgar |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Jim Edgar |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 51.97 |
Incumbent Secretary of State Jim Edgar, a Republican first appointed in 1981 and subsequently elected to a full term in 1982, was reelected to a second full term.
Little known candidate Janice Hart won an upset victory over Aurelia Pucinski (who had the backing of Adlai Stevenson III and others). While, not well-reported until after the primary, Hart was a member of the LaRouche movement.
The Illinois Solidarity Party ran Jane N. Spirgel in the election. Spirgel was an outgoing member of the DuPage County Board (on which she was the sole remaining Democratic member and had first been elected in 1974).[7]
| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois State Comptroller election |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Illinois Comptroller election |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Illinois Comptroller election |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Image1: | File:Roland W. Burris circa 1987 Bb 39880 full (3x4).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Roland Burris |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,880,413 |
| Percentage1: | 61.33% |
| Nominee2: | Adeline Geo-Karis |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,074,923 |
| Percentage2: | 35.06% |
| State Comptroller | |
| Before Election: | Roland Burris |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Dawn Clark Netsch |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 51.07% |
Incumbent Comptroller Roland Burris, a Democrat, was reelected to a third term.
State Senator Adeline Jay Geo-Karis won the Republican primary unopposed.
| Election Name: | 1986 Illinois State Treasurer election |
| Country: | Illinois |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 Illinois elections#Treasurer |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Illinois elections#Treasurer |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
| Image1: | Jerome Constentino 1989 (3x4).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Jerome Cosentino |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,724,979 |
| Percentage1: | 56.25% |
| Nominee2: | J. Michael Houston |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,252,796 |
| Percentage2: | 40.85% |
| Treasurer | |
| Before Election: | James Donnewald |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Jerome Cosentino |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Turnout: | 51.08% |
Incumbent Treasurer James Donnewald, a Democrat, lost the Democratic primary to former Treasurer Jerome Cosentino. Consentino won the general election, earning him a second non-consecutive term.
Incumbent James Donnewald lost renomination to former Treasurer Jerome Cosentino. Donnewald had been the party organization's favored candidate.[8] [9] Other candidates running included Cook County Board of Appeals member Pat Quinn and LaRouche movement member Robert D. Hart (who had the formal backing of Lyndon LaRouche's NDPC).[10]
J. Michael Houston, the mayor of Springfield, won the Republican nomination.[9] Houston was seeking to become the first Republican Illinois Treasurer in over twenty years.[9] He was also seeking to be the first Republican sitting mayor elected to statewide office in Illinois since Edward C. Akin was elected Illinois Attorney General in 1898.[11]
Some of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1986. Democrats retained control of the chamber.
All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1986. Democrats retained control of the chamber.
| Election Name: | 1986 Trustees of University of Illinois election |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1984 Illinois elections#Trustees of University of Illinois |
| Previous Year: | 1984 |
| Next Election: | 1988 Illinois elections#Trustees of University of Illinois |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1986 |
An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system for six year terms.
The election saw the reelection incumbent Democrat Nina T. Shepherd to a third term, as well as the election of new Democratic trustees Judith Ann Calder and Charles Wolff.[3]
First-term incumbent Republicans Galey Day and Dean E. Madden lost reelection.[3]
Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1986.[3]
Illinois voters voted on two ballot measures in 1986,[12] both of them legislatively referred constitutional amendments. In order to be approved, measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[12]
Voters approved the Bail Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Illinois to further expand the population that may be denied bail.[12] [13]
| Bail Amendment | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Option | Votes | % of votes on measure | % of all ballots cast | ||||
| text align=center | Yes | text align=center | 1,368,242 | text align=center | 77.25 | text align=center | 41.18 |
| text align=center | No | text align=center | 402,891 | text align=center | 22.75 | text align=center | 12.13 |
| text align=center | Total votes | text align=center | 1,771,133 | text align=center | 100 | text align=center | 53.31 |
| Voter turnout | colspan=3 text align=right | 29.50% |
Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment, a legislatively refereed constitutional amendment which would amend Article IX, Section 6 of the Constitution of Illinois to exempt property used exclusively by veterans' organizations from property taxes, failed to meet either threshold amend the constitution.[12] [14]
| Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Option | Votes | % of votes on measure | % of all ballots cast | ||||
| text align=center | Yes | text align=center | 860,609 | text align=center | 54.19 | text align=center | 25.90 |
| text align=center | No | text align=center | 727,737 | text align=center | 45.82 | text align=center | 21.90 |
| text align=center | Total votes | text align=center | 1,588,346 | text align=center | 100 | text align=center | 47.80 |
| Voter turnout | colspan=3 text align=right | 26.46% |
Local elections were held. These included county elections, such as the Cook County elections.