1994 Illinois elections explained

Election Name:1994 Illinois elections
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1992 Illinois elections
Previous Year:1992
Next Election:1996 Illinois elections
Next Year:1996
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Turnout:52.61%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 8, 1994. Primaries were held on March 15, 1994.

These elections saw the Republican Party make significant gains, and conversely saw the Democratic Party see significant losses. The Republican Party captured the State House and retained control of the State Senate and, winning them a trifecta of state government control. The Republican Party additionally won all statewide executive offices, retaining the governorship and office of lieutenant governor in their combined election, retaining the office of Secretary of State, while also flipping the offices of Attorney General, Comptroller, and Treasurer. The Republican Party also gained two more of Illinois' U.S. congressional seats.

The result of the election marked the first time since the 1950s that all executive offices and control of the Illinois General Assembly were held by a single party (the previous time had also seen the Republican Party reach this feat).

Election information

1994 was a midterm election year in the United States.

The 1994 midterm elections saw a strong national showing by the Republican Party, which was dubbed the Republican Revolution.

Turnout

For the primaries, turnout was 31.91%, with 1,963,606 ballots cast (with 1,186,888 Democratic ballots, 729,372 Republican ballots, 674 Harold Washington, and 46,619 nonpartisan ballots cast).[1]

For the general election, turnout was 52.61%, with 3,219,122 ballots cast.[2]

Straight-ticket voting

Illinois had a straight-ticket voting option in 1994.[2]

PartyNumber of
straight-ticket
votes
Democraticstyle=text-align:center407,858
Republicanstyle=text-align:center587,670
Libertarianstyle=text-align:center2,343
United Independents Partystyle=text-align:center654

Federal elections

United States House

See also: 1994 United States House of Representatives elections.

All Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1994.

The Republican Party flipped two seats from the Democratic Party. Among the two Democrats unseated by Republicans was Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, who had been in congress since 1959.[3] This left the party composition of Illinois' House delegation 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

See main article: 1994 Illinois gubernatorial election.

Election Name:1994 Illinois gubernatorial election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1990 Illinois gubernatorial election
Previous Year:1990
Next Election:1998 Illinois gubernatorial election
Next Year:1998
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Image1:File:Jim Edgar (Illinois Blue Book Portrait 1993-1994).jpg
Nominee1:Jim Edgar
Running Mate1:Bob Kustra
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,984,318
Percentage1:63.9%
Nominee2:Dawn Clark Netsch
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Running Mate2:Penny Severns
Popular Vote2:1,069,850
Percentage2:34.4%
Map Size:x300px
Governor
Before Election:Jim Edgar
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Jim Edgar
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:50.77%

Incumbent Governor Jim Edgar, a Republican, won reelection in the greatest landslide in Illinois history, excepting the election of 1818. Edgar carried 101 of the state's 102 counties over the Democratic nominee, State Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, with Netsch only winning Gallatin County. To date, this is the most recent statewide election in which Cook County voted for the Republican candidate.

Attorney General

Election Name:1994 Illinois Attorney General election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1990 Illinois Attorney General election
Previous Year:1990
Next Election:1998 Illinois Attorney General election
Next Year:1998
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Nominee1:Jim Ryan
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,651,976
Percentage1:53.63%
Nominee2:Al Hofeld
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,371,295
Percentage2:44.52%
Attorney General
Before Election:Roland Burris
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Jim Ryan
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:50.34%

Incumbent Attorney General Roland Burris, a Democrat, did not run for a second term, instead opting (ultimately unsuccessfully) to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Republican Jim Ryan was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Attorney and 1992 U.S. Senate candidate Al Hofeld won the Democratic primary, defeating former Chicago alderman Martin J. Oberman.[1] [4]

Republican primary

DuPage County state's attorney Jim Ryan won the Republican primary, defeating Metra Chairman Jeffrey Ladd and attorney Themis Anagost.[4] [5] Ryan had been the unsuccessful Republican nominee for attorney general in 1990.[5]

General election

Secretary of State

Election Name:1994 Illinois Secretary of State election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1990 Illinois elections#Secretary of State
Previous Year:1990
Next Election:1998 Illinois elections#Secretary of State
Next Year:1998
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Image1:File:George Ryan, 1989(crop).jpg
Nominee1:George Ryan
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,868,144
Percentage1:60.48%
Nominee2:Pat Quinn
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,182,629
Percentage2:38.29%
Secretary of State
Before Election:George Ryan
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:George Ryan
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:50.48%

Incumbent Secretary of State George Ryan was reelected to a second term., this was the last time a Republican was elected Illinois Secretary of State.

Democratic primary

Treasurer of Illinois Pat Quinn won the Democratic primary, defeating Illinois State Senator Denny Jacobs and Larouche movement member Rose-Marie Love.[6] [7]

Originally, Kane County Coroner Mary Lou Kearns had also declared herself a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State, but she subsequently decided to instead run for Comptroller.

Republican primary

Incumbent George Ryan ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

General election

Comptroller

Election Name:1994 Illinois State Comptroller election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1990 Illinois elections #Comptroller
Previous Year:1990
Next Election:1998 Illinois elections #Comptroller
Next Year:1998
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Nominee1:Loleta Didrickson
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,615,122
Percentage1:55.00%
Nominee2:Earlean Collins
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,208,128
Percentage2:41.14%
State Comptroller
Before Election:Dawn Clark Netsch
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Loleta Didrickson
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:47.99%

Incumbent Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, a Democrat, did not seek reelection to a second term, instead opting to run for governor. Republican Loleta Didrickson was elected to succeed her in office.

Democratic primary

Illinois State Senator Earlean Collins defeated Kane County Coroner/Kane County Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Lou Kearns, Lyons Township Assessor Edward J. Schumann, and Larouche movement member Mark Bender.[6] [8] [9]

Republican primary

General election

Treasurer

Election Name:1994 Illinois State Treasurer election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1990 Illinois elections#Treasurer
Previous Year:1990
Next Election:1998 Illinois elections#Treasurer
Next Year:1998
Election Date:November 8, 1994
Image1:File:Judy Baar Topinka (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Judy Baar Topinka
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,504,335
Percentage1:50.40%
Nominee2:Nancy Drew Sheehan
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,427,317
Percentage2:47.82%
Treasurer
Before Election:Pat Quinn
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Judy Baar Topinka
After Party:Republican Party (United States)
Turnout:48.78%

Incumbent Treasurer Pat Quinn, a Democrat, did not run for a second term, instead opting to run for Secretary of State. Republican Judy Baar Topinka was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board member Nancy Drew Sheehan defeated Thomas J. Beaudette in the Democratic primary.[1] [10]

Republican primary

Illinois State Senator Judy Baar Topinka won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

State Senate

Some of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1994. Republicans retained control of the Illinois Senate, which they had captured a majority in during the preceding 1992 elections.[11]

State House of Representatives

All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1994. Republicans flipped control of the Illinois House of Representatives.[11]

Trustees of the University of Illinois

Election Name:1994 Trustees of the University of Illinois election
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1992 University of Illinois trustees election
Previous Year:1992
Election Date:November 8, 1994

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of the University of Illinois system for six-year terms.

This was the last election for Trustees of University of Illinois, as this would subsequently become an appointed office.

The election saw the reelection of incumbent Republican Judith Reese to a second term, as well as the election of new trustees Republican Bill Engelbrecht and Democrat Martha R. O'Malley.[12]

First-term incumbent Democrat Ken Boyle lost reelection.[2] [12] First-term incumbent Republican Donald W. Grabowski was not nominated for reelection.[2] [12]

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1994.[2]

Ballot measures

Illinois voters voted on a two ballot measures in 1994,[13] both of them legislatively referred constitutional amendment In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[13]

Illinois Criminal Defendants' Right to Meet Witnesses Amendment

Voters approved the Illinois Criminal Defendants' Right to Meet Witnesses Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1"), a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of Illinois, which allowed criminal defendants be given the right to be confronted by witnesses.[13] [14]

Illinois Criminal Defendants' Right to Meet Witnesses Amendment
OptionVotes% of votes
on measure
% of all ballots
cast
text align=center Yestext align=center 1,525,525text align=center 62.73text align=center 47.39
text align=center Notext align=center 906,383text align=center 37.27text align=center 28.16
text align=center Total votestext align=center 2,431,908text align=center 100text align=center 75.55
Voter turnout colspan=3 text align=right 39.74%

Illinois Legislative Session Length Amendment

Voters approved Illinois Legislative Session Length (also known as "Amendment 2"), a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article IV, Section 10 of the Constitution of Illinois to change the legislative adjournment date from June 20 to May 3.[13] [15] [16]

Illinois Legislative Session Length Amendment
OptionVotes% of votes
on measure
% of all ballots
cast
text align=center Yestext align=center 1,476,615text align=center 68.87text align=center 45.87
text align=center Notext align=center 667,585text align=center 31.14text align=center 20.74
text align=center Total votestext align=center 2,144,200text align=center 100text align=center 66.61
Voter turnout colspan=3 text align=right 35.04%

Local elections

Local elections were held. These included county elections, such as the Cook County elections.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: State of Illinois official vote cast at the primary election held on ... . Illinois State Board of Elections . 7 April 2020 . 1966.
  2. Web site: State of Illinois official vote cast at the general election .. . Illinois State Board of Elections . 7 April 2020 . 1978.
  3. Web site: Terry . Don . THE 1994 ELECTIONS: THE HOUSE ILLINOIS; Rostenkowski, The Old Lion, Is Defeated By a Cub . The New York Times . 26 March 2020 . 9 November 1994.
  4. Web site: LAWYER JEFF LADD SEEKS ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL POST . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 26 October 1993.
  5. Web site: Presecky . William . PRIMARY-TESTED RYAN AWAITS HOFELD . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 17 March 1994.
  6. Web site: Hardy . Thomas . Pearson . Rick . DEMOCRATS HAVE LEARNED LESSON ABOUT LAROUCHE SLATE . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020.
  7. Web site: Pearson . Rick . MAVERICKS QUINN, JACOBS VIE FOR SECRETARY OF STATE . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 8 March 1994.
  8. Web site: Kuczka . Susan . PRIMARY SPLITTING UP TEAM . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 1 March 1994.
  9. Web site: Young . Linda . KEARNS PROVES PIVOTAL . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 9 October 1994.
  10. Web site: Kuczka . Susan . TREASURER'S RACE SURE TO BRING CHANGE TO OFFICE-FIRST WOMAN TO HOLD POST . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 7 April 2020 . 20 October 1994.
  11. Web site: Party control of Illinois state government . Ballotpedia . 26 March 2020 . en.
  12. Web site: Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees . University of Illinois . 1 April 2020.
  13. Web site: Illinois Constitution - Amendments Proposed . www.ilga.gov . Illinois General Assembly . 26 March 2020.
  14. Web site: Illinois Criminal Defendants' Right to Meet Witnesses . Ballotpedia . 29 March 2020.
  15. Web site: Illinois Legislative Session Length, Amendment 2 (1994) . Ballotpedia . en.
  16. Web site: Illinois 1994 ballot measures . Ballotpedia . en.