1996 United States Senate election in Illinois

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1996 United States Senate election in Illinois
Flag of Illinois.svg
←  1990 November 5, 1996 2002  →
Turnout63.79%
  Duroffpic.jpg Al Salvi (Climate Change Conference) (cropped).jpg
Nominee Dick Durbin Al Salvi
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote2,384,0281,728,824
Percentage56.09%40.67%
1996 United States Senate election in Illinois results map by county.svg
County results
Durbin:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Salvi:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Paul Simon
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dick Durbin
Democratic

The 1996 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Paul Simon chose to retire rather than seek a third term in office. In the Democratic primary, U.S. Representative Dick Durbin emerged victorious, while state representative Al Salvi won the Republican primary. Though the election was initially anticipated to be close, Durbin ended up defeating Salvi by a comfortable double-digit margin of victory, allowing him to win what would be the first of five terms in the Senate.

Contents

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices (president and House), as well as those for state offices.

For the primaries, turnout was 25.85%, with 1,583,406 votes cast. [1] For the general election, turnout was 63.79%, with 4,250,722 votes cast. [2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

  • Neil Hartigan, former Illinois Attorney General (1983–1991), former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (1973–1977), and Democratic nominee for Governor in 1990 [4] [5]
  • William M. Daley, attorney, political consultant, and member of the Daley family (endorsed Hartigan) [6]

Results

Democratic primary results [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dick Durbin 512,520 64.87%
Democratic Pat Quinn 233,13829.51%
Democratic Ronald F. Gibbs17,6812.24%
Democratic Jalil Ahmad17,2112.18%
Democratic Paul H. D. Park9,5051.20%
Total votes790,055 100
Results by county Map legend .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Quinn 40-50% Durbin 40-50% Durbin 50-60% Durbin 60-70% Durbin 70-80% Durbin >90% 1996 Illinois Senatorial Democratic Primary by county.svg
Results by county
Map legend
  •   Quinn 40–50%
  •   Durbin 40–50%
  •   Durbin 50–60%
  •   Durbin 60–70%
  •   Durbin 70–80%
  •   Durbin >90%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Al Salvi 377,141 47.64%
Republican Bob Kustra 342,93543.32%
Republican Robert Marshall43,9375.55%
Republican Martin Paul Gallagher17,2762.18%
Republican Wayne S. Kurzeja10,3561.31%
Total votes791,645 100

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Results

Libertarian primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Libertarian Robin J. Miller 1,258 73.74
Libertarian David F. Hoscheidt44826.26
Total votes1,706 100

General election

Results

Durbin won the election easily.

United States Senate election in Illinois, 1996 [2] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Dick Durbin 2,384,028 56.09% −8.98%
Republican Al Salvi 1,728,82440.67%+5.74%
Reform Steven H. Perry61,0231.44%
Libertarian Robin J. Miller41,2180.97%
Constitution Chad N. Koppie17,5630.40%
Natural Law James E. Davis13,8380.33%
Write-ins4,2280.10%
Majority655,20415.41%−14.72%
Turnout 4,250,72263.79
Democratic hold Swing

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "State of Illinois official vote cast at the primary election held on ..." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "State of Illinois official vote cast at the general election ." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Man, Anthony (March 1996). "Replacing Our Favorite Son". Illinois Issues. 22 (3). University of Illinois at Springfield: 27. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  4. ↑ Tribune, Chicago (May 18, 1995). "HARTIGAN MOVES EVER CLOSER TO RUN FOR SIMON'S SEAT". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  5. ↑ Berke, Richard L. (June 11, 1995). "THE NATION; Democrats Find Out Things Can Get Worse". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  6. ↑ "DEMS PUSH HARTIGAN TO RUN FOR SENATE". Crain's Chicago Business. March 25, 1995.
  7. 1 2 "Federal Elections 96: 1996 U.S. Senate Results by State". Fec.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
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