2008 Illinois elections explained

Election Name:	2008 Illinois elections
Country:	Illinois
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2006 Illinois elections
Previous Year:	2006
Next Election:	2010 Illinois elections
Next Year:	2010
Election Date:	November 4, 2008
Turnout:	71.60%

Elections were held in Illinois on November 4, 2008.

Primaries were held February 5, 2008.

Election information

Turnout

Primary election

For the primary election, turnout was 40.89%, with 2,986,982 votes cast.^[1]

Turnout by county^[1]

County	Registration	Votes cast	Turnout
	42,024	14,154	33.68%
Alexander	7,743	2,526	32.62%
Bond	11,258	3,499	31.08%
Boone	33,607	11,545	34.35%
Brown	3,262	1,450	44.45%
Bureau	24,159	7,301	30.22%
Calhoun	4,108	1,592	38.75%
Carroll	12,143	3,469	28.57%
Cass	9,490	2,188	23.06%
Champaign	109,946	39,156	35.61%
Christian	21,272	7,848	36.89%
Clark	12,624	4,199	33.26%
Clay	9,390	3,582	38.15%
Clinton	26,213	6,851	26.14%
Coles	28,826	10,180	35.32%
Cook^[2]	2,658,099	1,274,569	47.95%
Crawford	13,807	4,457	32.28%
Cumberland	8,821	2,616	29.66%
DeKalb	52,754	23,612	44.76%
DeWitt	10,863	4,885	44.97%
Douglas	11,742	4,222	35.96%
DuPage	549,621	244,032	44.4%
Edgar	12,704	4,773	37.57%
Edwards	4,369	1,641	37.56%
Effingham	23,050	7,936	34.43%
Fayette	15,280	4,770	31.22%
Ford	8,619	3,237	37.56%
Franklin	27,167	11,720	43.14%
Fulton	26,485	9,033	34.11%
Gallatin	4,264	2,203	51.67%
Greene	9,644	2,811	29.15%
Grundy	30,311	10,635	35.09%
Hamilton	6,563	3,266	49.76%
Hancock	13,475	5,362	39.79%
Hardin	3,811	1,750	45.92%
Henderson	5,414	1,919	35.45%
Henry	36,015	10,762	29.88%
Iroquois	20,187	6,171	30.57%
Jackson	41,323	12,131	29.36%
Jasper	14,959	2,777	18.56%
Jefferson	24,758	10,744	43.4%
Jersey	16,402	4,803	29.28%
Jo Daviess	16,819	5,508	32.75%
Johnson	7,596	3,922	51.63%
Kane	258,902	101,332	39.14%
Kankakee	64,925	18,849	29.03%
Kendall	58,570	22,923	39.14%
Knox	33,486	12,240	36.55%
Lake	377,738	147,424	39.03%
LaSalle	70,265	24,372	34.69%
Lawrence	10,145	3,110	30.66%
Lee	47,146	8,262	17.52%
Livingston	23,146	8,133	35.14%
Logan	19,496	7,357	37.74%
Macon	69,372	26,993	38.91%
Macoupin	32,641	10,440	31.98%
Madison	163,584	60,403	36.92%
Marion	24,959	9,233	36.99%
Marshall	8,447	3,486	41.27%
Mason	10,447	3,786	36.24%
Massac	11,434	4,348	38.03%
McDonough	17,882	6,528	36.51%
McHenry	188,449	65,232	34.62%
McLean	89,510	38,116	42.58%
Menard	9,303	3,222	34.63%
Mercer	14,018	4,216	30.08%
Monroe	22,972	8,065	35.11%
Montgomery	18,629	6,170	33.12%
Morgan	23,947	6,590	27.52%
Moultrie	8,453	3,011	35.62%
Ogle	38,584	13,322	34.53%
Peoria	113,614	42,887	37.75%
Perry	14,590	4,807	32.95%
Piatt	11,369	4,113	36.18%
Pike	12,585	3,617	28.74%
Pope	3,490	1,304	37.36%
Pulaski	6,615	2,007	30.34%
Putnam	4,566	1,714	37.54%
Randolph	24,153	7,149	29.6%
Richland	13,463	3,742	27.79%
Rock Island	117,900	35,990	30.53%
Saline	16,402	7,525	45.88%
Sangamon	134,911	40,607	30.1%
Schuyler	5,301	2,013	37.97%
Scott	3,994	1,378	34.5%
Shelby	14,377	5,315	36.97%
Stark	5,179	1,470	28.38%
St. Clair	186,756	58,617	31.39%
Stephenson	33,178	10,111	30.48%
Tazewell	96,705	32,412	33.52%
Union	15,118	6,403	42.35%
Vermilion	46,793	14,177	30.3%
Wabash	9,221	2,561	27.77%
Warren	12,488	4,213	33.74%
Washington	11,683	3,989	34.14%
Wayne	12,368	4,917	39.76%
White	11,312	3,911	34.57%
Whiteside	48,987	12,777	26.08%
Will	330,732	144,040	43.55%
Williamson	40,948	18,198	44.44%
Winnebago	174,484	61,303	35.13%
Woodford	23,844	10,745	45.06%
	7,304,563	2,986,982	40.89%

General election

For the general election, turnout was 71.60%, with 5,577,509 votes cast.^[3]

Turnout by county^[3]

County	Registration	Votes cast	Turnout%
	44,329	31,107	70.17%
Alexander	7,926	4,030	50.85%
Bond	11,756	8,034	68.34%
Boone	32,771	22,317	68.1%
Brown	3,383	2,625	77.59%
Bureau	26,861	17,291	64.37%
Calhoun	3,952	2,773	70.17%
Carroll	12,012	7,734	64.39%
Cass	9,650	5,479	56.78%
Champaign	123,150	84,804	68.86%
Christian	22,088	15,253	69.06%
Clark	12,882	8,382	65.07%
Clay	9,665	6,577	68.05%
Clinton	27,262	17,492	64.16%
Coles	32,867	23,287	70.85%
Cook^[4]	2,933,502	2,162,240	73.71%
Crawford	14,197	9,246	65.13%
Cumberland	9,065	5,390	59.46%
DeKalb	60,718	45,178	74.41%
DeWitt	11,468	7,886	68.77%
Douglas	12,193	8,443	69.24%
DuPage	551,280	420,397	76.26%
Edgar	13,004	8,345	64.17%
Edwards	4,576	3,418	74.69%
Effingham	22,353	16,999	76.05%
Fayette	15,589	9,815	62.96%
Ford	9,059	6,435	71.03%
Franklin	28,247	18,970	67.16%
Fulton	26,982	16,489	61.11%
Gallatin	4,316	2,948	68.3%
Greene	9,446	5,881	62.26%
Grundy	30,234	22,356	73.94%
Hamilton	6,432	4,452	69.22%
Hancock	13,674	9,570	69.99%
Hardin	3,910	2,332	59.64%
Henderson	5,527	3,875	70.11%
Henry	37,351	24,995	66.92%
Iroquois	20,695	13,697	66.19%
Jackson	45,225	25,795	57.04%
Jasper	7,511	5,229	69.62%
Jefferson	25,816	17,454	67.61%
Jersey	17,113	10,723	62.66%
Jo Daviess	16,529	11,878	71.86%
Johnson	7,984	6,012	75.3%
Kane	263,876	194,981	73.89%
Kankakee	65,279	48,333	74.04%
Kendall	67,307	46,875	69.64%
Knox	34,898	24,284	69.59%
Lake	405,041	301,077	74.33%
LaSalle	73,689	50,775	68.9%
Lawrence	10,497	6,661	63.46%
Lee	26,428	16,499	62.43%
Livingston	23,826	15,752	66.11%
Logan	19,859	13,029	65.61%
Macon	73,597	51,644	70.17%
Macoupin	32,910	22,606	68.69%
Madison	178,014	129,880	72.96%
Marion	26,084	17,562	67.33%
Marshall	8,777	6,402	72.94%
Mason	10,527	6,889	65.44%
Massac	11,759	7,320	62.25%
McDonough	19,569	13,158	67.24%
McHenry	199,378	140,002	70.22%
McLean	100,157	76,231	76.11%
Menard	9,594	6,531	68.07%
Mercer	14,087	8,943	63.48%
Monroe	24,280	18,241	75.13%
Montgomery	19,055	13,039	68.43%
Morgan	25,007	15,466	61.85%
Moultrie	8,782	6,312	71.87%
Ogle	40,453	25,062	61.95%
Peoria	124,116	83,008	66.88%
Perry	15,054	10,148	67.41%
Piatt	11,921	9,065	76.04%
Pike	12,991	7,712	59.36%
Pope	3,399	2,272	66.84%
Pulaski	6,679	3,333	49.9%
Putnam	4,663	3,369	72.25%
Randolph	24,624	15,401	62.54%
Richland	13,684	7,751	56.64%
Rock Island	114,645	68,933	60.13%
Saline	17,179	11,691	68.05%
Sangamon	138,299	100,679	72.8%
Schuyler	5,473	3,876	70.82%
Scott	3,976	2,643	66.47%
Shelby	15,158	11,004	72.6%
Stark	5,212	2,945	56.5%
St. Clair	201,095	126,682	63%
Stephenson	34,535	21,798	63.12%
Tazewell	99,868	64,319	64.4%
Union	15,337	9,306	60.68%
Vermilion	49,863	33,249	66.68%
Wabash	9,391	5,860	62.4%
Warren	12,970	8,117	62.58%
Washington	12,396	8,040	64.86%
Wayne	12,640	8,172	64.65%
White	11,566	7,571	65.46%
Whiteside	43,590	27,142	62.27%
Will	373,847	288,709	77.23%
Williamson	43,676	30,519	69.88%
Winnebago	188,795	127,369	67.46%
Woodford	25,578	19,639	76.78%
	7,789,500	5,577,509	71.6%

Federal elections

United States President

See main article: 2008 United States presidential election in Illinois.

Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

This was the fifth consecutive presidential election in which Illinois had voted for the Democratic ticket.

United States Senate

See main article: 2008 United States Senate election in Illinois.

See also: 2008 United States Senate elections.

Incumbent Democrat Dick Durbin was reelected to a third term.

United States House

See main article: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois.

See also: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections.

All 19 of Illinois’ seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2008.

The Democratic Party flipped one Republican-held seat, making the composition of Illinois' House delegation 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans.

State elections

State Senate

See main article: 2008 Illinois Senate election. One-third of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 2008.

State House of Representatives

See main article: 2008 Illinois House of Representatives election. All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 2008.

Judicial elections

Judicial elections were held.

Ballot measure

Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1998.^[5] In order to be approved, the measure required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.^[5]

This was the first time since the 1998 Illinois elections that a statewide ballot measure was presented to Illinois voters.^[5]

Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention

A measure which would call for a state constitutional convention failed.^[5] Article XIV of the Constitution of Illinois requires that Illinois voters be asked at least every 20 years if they desire a constitutional convention, thus this election was constitutionally required to be held.^[6]

Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention
Option	Votes	% of votes on referendum	% of all ballots cast
text align=center	For	text align=center	1,493,203	text align=center	32.78	text align=center	26.96
text align=center	Against	text align=center	3,062,724	text align=center	67.23	text align=center	55.29
text align=center	Total votes	text align=center	4,555,927	text align=center	100	text align=center	82.25
	Voter turnout	colspan=3 text align=right	58.49%

Local elections

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Voter Turnout . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 22 March 2020.
2. For more on Cook County primary turnout, see 2008 Cook County, Illinois elections#Voter turnout
3. Web site: Voter Turnout . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 22 March 2020.
4. For more on Cook County general election turnout, see 2008 Cook County, Illinois elections#Voter turnout
5. Web site: Illinois Constitution - Amendments Proposed . www.ilga.gov . Illinois General Assembly . 26 March 2020.
6. Constitution of the State of Illinois. Article 14 - Constitutional revisions