1994 Illinois elections

1994 Illinois elections

← 1992 November 8, 1994 1996 →
Turnout	52.61%

Elections in Illinois
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v t e

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 8, 1994. Primaries were held on March 15, 1994.^[1]

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.^[2] 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).

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.

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.^[3]

Illinois had a straight-ticket voting option in 1994.^[3]

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.^[4] This left the party composition of Illinois' House delegation 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

1994 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
Turnout	50.77%
Nominee Jim Edgar Dawn Clark Netsch Party Republican Democratic Running mate Bob Kustra Penny Severns Popular vote 1,984,318 1,069,850 Percentage 63.9% 34.4%
County results Edgar:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Netsch:      40–50%
Governor before election Jim Edgar Republican Elected Governor Jim Edgar Republican

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.

1994 Illinois Attorney General election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
Turnout	50.34%[3]
Nominee Jim Ryan Al Hofeld Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,651,976 1,371,295 Percentage 53.63% 44.52%
County results Ryan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Hofeld:      40–50%      50–60%
Attorney General before election Roland Burris Democratic Elected Attorney General Jim Ryan Republican

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.

Attorney and 1992 U.S. Senate candidate Al Hofeld won the Democratic primary, defeating former Chicago alderman Martin J. Oberman.^[1][5]

DuPage County state's attorney Jim Ryan won the Republican primary, defeating Metra Chairman Jeffrey Ladd and attorney Themis Anagost.^[5][6] Ryan had been the unsuccessful Republican nominee for attorney general in 1990.^[6]

1994 Illinois Secretary of State election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
Turnout	50.48%[3]
Nominee George Ryan Pat Quinn Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,868,144 1,182,629 Percentage 60.48% 38.29%
County results Ryan:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Quinn:      40–50%      50–60%
Secretary of State before election George Ryan Republican Elected Secretary of State George Ryan Republican

Incumbent Secretary of State George Ryan was reelected to a second term.

Treasurer of Illinois Pat Quinn won the Democratic primary, defeating Illinois State Senator Denny Jacobs and Larouche movement member Rose-Marie Love.^[7][8]

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.^[9]

Incumbent George Ryan ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

1994 Illinois State Comptroller election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
Turnout	47.99%[3]
Nominee Loleta Didrickson Earlean Collins Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,615,122 1,208,128 Percentage 55.00% 41.14%
County results Didrickson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Collins:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
State Comptroller before election Dawn Clark Netsch Democratic Elected State Comptroller Loleta Didrickson Republican

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.

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.^[7][9][10]

1994 Illinois State Treasurer election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
Turnout	48.78%[3]
Nominee Judy Baar Topinka Nancy Drew Sheehan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,504,335 1,427,317 Percentage 50.40% 47.82%
County results Topinka:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Sheehan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Treasurer before election Pat Quinn Democratic Elected Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka Republican

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.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board member Nancy Drew Sheehan defeated Thomas J. Beaudette in the Democratic primary.^[1][11]

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

1994 Illinois Senate election

← 1992 November 8, 1994 (1994-11-08) 1996 →
21 of 59 seats in the Illinois Senate 30 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 32 27 Seats won 33 26 Seat change 1 1
Results:      Republican gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold      No election
President before election James Philip Republican Elected President James Philip Republican

21 out of 59 seats in 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.^[2]

1994 Illinois House of Representatives election

← 1992 November 8, 1994 (1994-11-08) 1996 →
All 118 seats in the Illinois House of Representatives 60 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Lee Daniels Michael Madigan Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 46th 22nd Last election 51 67 Seats won 64 54 Seat change 13 13
Results:      Republican gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold
Speaker before election Michael Madigan Democratic Speaker-Elect Lee Daniels Republican

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.^[2]

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.^[12]

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.^[3][12] First-term incumbent Republican Donald W. Grabowski was not nominated for reelection.^[3][12]

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1994.^[3]

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]

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]

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]

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