1958 Illinois elections

1958 Illinois elections

←  1956 November 4, 1958 1960  →
Turnout	67.72%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1958. ^[1]

Primaries were held April 8, 1958. ^[1]

Election information

1958 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

In the primary election, 1,594,388 ballots were cast (831,502 Democratic and 762,886 Republican). ^[1]

In the general election, turnout was 67.72% with 3,427,278 ballots cast. ^{[1] [2]}

Federal elections

United States House

Main article: 1958 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois

See also: 1958 United States House of Representatives elections

All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1958.

Democrats flipped three Republican-held seats, leaving the Illinois House delegation to consist of 14 Democrats and 11 Republicans.

State elections

Treasurer

1958 Illinois State Treasurer election

←  1956 November 4, 1958 1962  →
Turnout	63.98% [1] [2]
Nominee Joseph D. Lohman Warren Wright Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,688,809 1,548,902 Percentage 52.16% 47.84%
Treasurer before election Francis S. Lorenz Democratic Elected Treasurer Joseph D. Lohman Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer, Republican Elmer J. Hoffman, did not seek reelection, instead running successfully for Illinois's 14th congressional district. Democrat Joseph D. Lohman was elected to succeed him, defeating former two-term Illinois Treasurer, Republican Warren Wright.

Democratic primary

Treasurer Democratic primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph D. Lohman	650,222	100
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			650,226	100

Republican primary

Former treasurer Warren Wright won the Republican primary, defeating State Representative Louis E. Beckman Jr.

Treasurer Republican primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	373,876	56.58
	Republican	Louis E. Beckman	286,893	43.42
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			660,772	100

General election

Treasurer election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph D. Lohman	1,688,809	52.16
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	1,548,902	47.84
Total votes			3,237,711	100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

1958 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election

←  1954 November 4, 1958 1962  →
Turnout	70.87% [1] [2]
Nominee George T. Wilkins Gerald W. Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,685,877 1,477,332 Percentage 53.30% 46.70%
Superintendent before election Vernon L. Nickell Republican Elected Superintendent George T. Wilkins Democratic

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Vernon L. Nickell, a fourth-term Republican, did not seek reelection. Democrat George T. Wilkins was elected to succeed him.

Democratic primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George T. Wilkins	615,058	100
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			615,059	100

Republican primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald W. Smith	483,027	78.94
	Republican	Lar "America First" Daly	128,861	21.06
	Write-in	Others	6	0.00
Total votes			611,894	100

General election

Superintendent of Public Instruction election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George T. Wilkins	1,685,877	53.30
	Republican	Gerald W. Smith	1,477,332	46.70
Total votes			3,163,209	100

State Senate

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1958. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1958. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1958 Trustees of University of Illinois election

←  1956 November 4, 1958 1960  →

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

The election saw the reelection of one-term member former member Harold Pogue and the election of new Democratic members Howard W. Clement, Richard A. Harewood. ^{[1] [3]}

The election saw third-term incumbent Republican Park Livingston, second term Republican incumbent Doris Simpson Holt and first-term incumbent Republican Cushman B. Bissell lose reelection. ^{[1] [3]}

Trustees of the University of Illinois election ^{[1] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harold Pogue	1,718,370	18.32
	Democratic	Howard W. Clement	1,671,895	17.82
	Democratic	Richard A. Harewood	1,653,654	17.63
	Republican	Park Livingston (incumbent)	1,487,954.5	15.86
	Republican	Cushman B. Bissell (incumbent)	1,448,903	15.45
	Republican	Doris Simpson Holt (incumbent)	1,400,456.5	14.93
Total votes			9,381,233	100

Judicial elections

Lower courts

On June 8, 1958, the Superior Court of Cook County held three regular elections and two special elections. ^[1] On September 2, 1958, a special election was held for a vacant seat on the 12th Judicial Circuit. ^[1]

Ballot measures

Three ballot measures were put before voters in 1958. One was a legislatively referred state statutes and two were legislatively referred constitutional amendments. ^[4]

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]

County Officers Re-election Amendment

The County Officers Re-election Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article VI of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois, failed to meet either threshold for approval. The amendment would have permitted county sheriffs and treasurers to be elected to successive terms. ^[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. ^[7]

County Officers Re-election Amendment [1] [2] [6]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,420,011	56.36	41.43
No	1,099,475	43.64	32.08
Total votes	2,519,486	100	73.51
Voter turnout	49.79%

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment was approved by voters as a legislatively referred state statute. It made modified the state's banking law. ^[8]

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment ^{[1] [2]}

Candidate		Votes	%
Yes		755,622	65.83
No		392,260	34.17
Total votes		1,147,882	100
Voter turnout		22.68%

Judicial Amendment

The Judicial Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article VI of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois, failed to meet either threshold for approval. ^[1] Changes the amendment would have made included giving broad powers to the Supreme Court of Illinois and creating an appellate court. ^[9]

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. ^{[7] [10]}

Judicial Amendment [1] [2]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,589,655	64.02	46.38
No	893,503	35.98	26.07
Total votes	2,483,158	100	72.45
Voter turnout	49.07%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 4, 1958 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1957, 1958 SPECIAL ELECTION, 1957 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 8, 1958" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 4, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. "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 ]}
3. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
4. "1958 ballot measures". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
5. Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
6. "Illinois County Officers Re-election (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
7. 1870 Illinois Constitution Article XIV
8. "Illinois General Banking Law Amendment (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
9. "Illinois Judicial Amendment (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
10. "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.