1954 Illinois elections

1954 Illinois elections

←  1952 November 2, 1954 1956  →
Turnout	65.34%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1954. ^[1]

Primaries were held April 13, 1954. ^[1]

Election information

1954 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

In the primary election, turnout was 32.06% with 1,695,491 ballots cast (957,042 Democratic and 738,449 Republican). ^{[1] [2]}

In the general election, turnout was 65.34% with 3,455,173 ballots cast. ^{[1] [3]}

Federal elections

United States Senate

Main article: 1954 United States Senate election in Illinois

See also: 1954 United States Senate elections

Democratic Senator Paul Douglas was reelected to a second term.

United States House

Main article: 1954 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois

See also: 1954 United States House of Representatives elections

All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1954.

Democrats flipped three Republican-held seats, leaving the Illinois House delegation to consist of 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

State elections

Treasurer

1954 Illinois State Treasurer election

←  1952 November 2, 1954 1956  →
Turnout	61.91% [1] [3]
Nominee Warren Wright David F. Mallett Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,641,272 1,632,331 Percentage 50.14% 49.86%
Treasurer before election Elmer J. Hoffman Republican Elected Treasurer Warren Wright Republican

Incumbent first-term Treasurer, Republican Elmer J. Hoffman, did not seek reelection. Republican Warren Wright, a former one-term holder of the office, was elected to succeed him.

This was the final Illinois Treasurer election to a two-year term, as voters also approved a constitutional amendment which extended term length to four-years beginning in the following election.

Democratic primary

Treasurer Democratic primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David F. Mallett	531,647	100
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			531,649	100

Republican primary

Former Illinois Treasurer Warren Wright won the Republican primary. He defeated fellow former Illinois Treasurer Conrad F. Becker, as well as Robert J. Branson.

Treasurer Republican primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	329,565	42.40
	Republican	Conrad F. Becker	256,308	32.98
	Republican	Robert J. Branson	191,417	24.63
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			777,291	100

General election

Treasurer election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	1,641,272	50.14
	Democratic	David F. Mallett	1,632,331	49.86
Total votes			3,273,603	100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

1954 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election

←  1950 November 2, 1954 1958  →
Turnout	61.81% [1] [3]
Nominee Vernon L. Nickell Mark A. Peterman Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,653,174 1,615,325 Percentage 50.58% 49.42%
Superintendent before election Vernon L. Nickell Republican Elected Superintendent Vernon L. Nickell Republican

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Vernon L. Nickell, a Republican, was elected to a fourth term.

Democratic primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark A. Peterman	523,876	100
Total votes			523,876	100

Republican primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent)	701,257	100
	Write-in	Others	9	0.00
Total votes			701,266	100

General election

Superintendent of Public Instruction election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent)	1,653,174	50.58
	Democratic	Mark A. Peterman	1,615,325	49.42
	Write-in	Others	12
Total votes			3,268,511	100

State Senate

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1954. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1954. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1954 Trustees of University of Illinois election

←  1952 November 2, 1954 1956  →

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois.

The election saw the reelection of Democrat former member Kenney E. Williamson (who previously had served one full term and a partial term), and first-term Democratic incumbents George Wirt Herrick, Frances Best Watkins. ^{[1] [4]}

Trustees of the University of Illinois election ^{[1] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kenney E. Williamson	1,683,790½	17.45
	Democratic	George Wirt Herrick (incumbent)	1,672,794½	17.34
	Democratic	Frances Best Watkins (incumbent)	1,648,798½	17.09
	Republican	Dr. Ralph H. Kunstadter	1,582,397½	16.40
	Republican	Vernon L. Heath	1,562,347	16.19
	Republican	Maurice Gantzert	1,498,812½	15.53
Total votes			9,648,943	100

Judicial elections

Supreme Court

Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District

A judicial election was held on June 7, 1954, for the Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District. Republican Joseph E. Daily was unopposed.

Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph E. Daily (incumbent)	985	99.90
	Others	Others	1	0.10
Total votes			986	100

Lower courts

On November 2, 1954, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Ballot measures

Three ballot measures were put before voters in 1954. All three were legislatively referred constitutional amendments.

In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute. ^[1] In order to be placed on the ballot, proposed legislatively referred constitutional amendments needed to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the Illinois General Assembly. ^[5] In order to be approved, they required approval of either two-thirds of those voting on the amendment itself or a majority of all ballots cast in the general elections. ^[1]

Illinois Michigan Canal Amendment

The Illinois Michigan Canal Amendment was approved. It eliminated from the constitution the requirement that the Illinois and Michigan Canal or other canal and or waterway could only be sold or leased with specific approval of a majority of voters participating in a general state election. It also removed from the constitution the provision under which the Illinois deep waterway was both financed and constructed. ^[6]

Illinois Michigan Canal Amendment [1] [3] [7]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,011,134	79.34	58.20
No	523,572	20.66	15.15
Total votes	2,534,706	100	73.97
Voter turnout	47.93%

Legislative Apportionment Amendment

Legislative Apportionment Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Sections 6, 7, and 8 of Article IV of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois was approved by voters. ^[1] Among other specifications, it directed the Illinois General Assembly to elect one Senator from each of 58 senatorial districts and three representatives from each of 59 representative districts. ^[6]

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections. ^{[8] [9]}

Legislative Apportionment Amendment [1] [3]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,085,224	79.87	60.35
No	525,502	20.13	15.21
Total votes	2,610,726	100	75.56
Voter turnout	49.37%

State Treasurer Amendment

State Treasurer Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Sections 1, 2, and 3 of Article IV of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois was approved by voters. ^[1] Among its changes was, beginning with the 1956 election, making the term of the State Treasurer be expanded from two to four years. ^[6]

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections. ^{[8] [9]}

State Treasurer Amendment [1] [3]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,024,483	79.21	58.59
No	531,318	20.79	15.38
Total votes	2,555,801	100	73.97
Voter turnout	48.33%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 2, 1954 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1953, 1954 SPECIAL ELECTION, 1953 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 13, 1954" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 7, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
2. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 16, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 4, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
3. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 4, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
4. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
5. Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
6. "Official Publication Notice of Proposed Constitutional Amendments" . Newspapers.com. Galesburg Register-Mail. August 17, 1954. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
7. "Illinois Michigan Canal Amendment (1954)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
8. 1870 Illinois Constitution Article XIV
9. "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.