1998 United States Senate election in Illinois

1998 United States Senate election in Illinois

←  1992 November 3, 1998 2004  →
Turnout	50.25%
Nominee Peter Fitzgerald Carol Moseley Braun Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,709,042 1,610,496 Percentage 50.35% 47.44%
County results Fitzgerald:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Braun:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election Carol Moseley Braun Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald Republican

The 1998 United States Senate election in Illinois was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun decided to run for re-election, despite the number of controversies that she had in her first term. Republican State Senator Peter Fitzgerald won his party's primary with a slim margin of victory. Fitzgerald won with a margin of victory of approximately 3%. He won all but five counties and became the only Republican Senate candidate to defeat a Democratic incumbent in 1998.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for House and as those for state offices.

For the primary elections, turnout was 20.55%, with 1,386,694 votes cast. ^{[1] [2]} For the general election, turnout was 50.25%, with 3,394,521 votes cast. ^{[2] [3]}

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Carol Moseley Braun, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Democratic primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent)	666,419	100.00%
Total votes			666,419	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Loleta Didrickson, Illinois Comptroller
• Peter Fitzgerald, State Senator from Inverness

Results

Republican primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Peter Fitzgerald	372,916	51.83%
	Republican	Loleta Didrickson	346,606	48.17%
Total votes			719,522	100.00%

Republican Primary Results

Map legend

•   Fitzgerald—80–90%
•   Fitzgerald—70–80%
•   Fitzgerald—60–70%
•   Fitzgerald—50–60%
•   Didrickson—50–60%

Reform primary

Candidates

• Steve Denarie
• Don A. Torgersen

Results

Reform primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Reform	Don A. Torgersen	403	53.52%
	Reform	Steve Denari	350	46.48%
Total votes			753	100.00%

General election

Campaign

During Moseley Braun's first term as U.S. senator, she was plagued by several major controversies. Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Elections Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted-for campaign funds. The agency found some small violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS. ^[4]

In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. Despite U.S. sanctions against that country due to Abacha's actions, the senator did not notify, nor register her trip with, the State Department. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress. ^[5]

Peter Fitzgerald, a state senator, won the Republican primary, defeating Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson with 51.8% of the vote, to Didrickson's 48.2%. ^[6] Fitzgerald spent nearly $7 million in the Republican primary. ^[7] He had a major financial advantage, as he was a multimillionaire. He ended up spending $12 million in his election victory. ^[8]

In September, Moseley Braun created controversy again by using the word "nigger" to describe how she claims to be a victim of racism. ^[8]

Most polls over the first few months showed Moseley-Braun trailing badly. However, after she was helped in the final month by notable Democrats such as first lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, three polls published in the last week showed her within the margin of error, and, in one poll, running even with Fitzgerald. ^[9]

Results

The incumbent Moseley Braun was narrowly defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Moseley Braun only won five of Illinois's 102 counties. Despite this, the race was kept close by Moseley Braun running up massive margins in Cook County, which is home to the city of Chicago. However, it wasn't quite enough to win. Fitzgerald would only serve one term in the Senate. Fitzgerald initially intended to run for a second term.

However, after many Republicans and Democrats announced their intentions to run, Fitzgerald decided to retire. Fitzgerald served from January 3, 1999, to January 3, 2005. On January 3, 2005, Fitzgerald was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama.

^[10]

1998 United States Senate election in Illinois ^{[2] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Peter Fitzgerald	1,709,041	50.35%	+7.4%
	Democratic	Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent)	1,610,496	47.44%	−5.6%
	Reform	Don Torgersen	74,704	2.20%	N/A
	US Taxpayers	Raymond Stalker	280	0.01%	N/A
Total votes			3,394,521	100.00%	N/A
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 1998 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved March 22, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
2. "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
3. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved March 22, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
4. Slate , Is Carol Moseley-Braun a Crook?", February 19, 2003
5. NPR , "2004 Democratic Presidential Candidates: Carol Moseley Braun", Npr.org, May 6, 2003
6. Election Results: General Primary - 3/17/1998 Archived November 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
7. "Moseley-Braun's Rich Foe May Be Surprisingly Strong". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. March 19, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
8. Pearson, Rick; Zielinski, Graeme (September 8, 1998). "Senator Apologizes For Epithet Moseley-Braun Uses Slur In Calling Columnist Racist". Chicago Tribune . pp. 1, 7 . Retrieved April 4, 2015.
9. Belluck, Pam (November 3, 1998). "The 1998 Campaign – Illinois – Moseley-Braun, Trailing, Pushes Hard" . The New York Times . Illinois. p. A23. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
10. =GE&ElectionID=11&SearchType =OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1305&QueryType =Office& Illinois State Board of Elections Ballots Cast for U.S. Senator 11/3/1998 Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 17, 2015.
11. Pear, Robert (November 4, 1998). "The 1998 Elections – State by State – Midwest – Illinois". The New York Times . Illinois. p. B8. Retrieved October 28, 2024.