2004 United States Senate election in Illinois

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2004 United States Senate election in Illinois
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Turnout68.56%
  Barack Obama Senate portrait crop.jpg Alan Keyes speech (1).jpg
Nominee Barack Obama Alan Keyes [a]
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,597,4561,390,690
Percentage69.97%27.05%
2004 United States Senate election in Illinois results map by county.svg
County results
Obama:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
     70–80%     80–90%
Keyes:     50–60%
U.S. senator before election

Peter Fitzgerald
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald decided to retire after one term. The Democratic and Republican primary elections were held in March, which included a total of 15 candidates who combined to spend a record total of over $60 million seeking the open seat.

Contents

On March 16, 2004, State Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic primary, and businessman Jack Ryan won the Republican primary. Three months later, Ryan announced his withdrawal from the race four days after the Chicago Tribune persuaded a California court to release records from Ryan's custody case, which included allegations that Ryan had pressured his then-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, to perform sexual acts in public.

Six weeks later, the Illinois Republican State Central Committee chose former Diplomat Alan Keyes to replace Ryan as the Republican candidate. Keyes had previously lost two races for the U.S. Senate in Maryland in 1988 and 1992, both by large margins. The election was the first in U.S. Senate history in which both major-party candidates were Black. According to Obama's 2020 A Promised Land , he had promised his wife Michelle that if he lost the race, he would retire from politics. [1]

Obama won the election with 70% of the vote and a margin of 43% over Keyes, the largest margin of victory for a U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois history, and significantly larger than Democrat John Kerry's 10.3% margin in the concurrent presidential election. Obama carried 92 of the state's 102 counties, including several where Democrats had traditionally not done well. The inequality in the candidates spending for the fall elections – $14,244,768 by Obama, and $2,545,325 by Keyes – is also among the largest in history in both absolute and relative terms. [2] This was the first open-seat election for this seat since 1980. Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator on January 3, 2005, and served until he resigned on November 16, 2008, 12 days after he was elected president. [3]

Background

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

For the primary elections, turnout was 26.69%, with 1,904,800 votes cast. [4] [5] For the general election, turnout was 68.56%, with 5,141,520 votes cast. [6] [5]

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

In this campaign, Chirinjeev Kathuria became the first Indian-American and first person of the Sikh religion to run for a United States Senate seat.

GOP frontrunner Jack Ryan had divorced actress Jeri Ryan in 1999, and the records of the divorce were sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. On March 3, 2004, several of Ryan's GOP primary opponents urged Ryan to release the records. [7] Both Ryan and his wife agreed to make their divorce records public, but not make the child custody records public, claiming that the custody records could be harmful to their son if released. Ryan went on to win the GOP primary on March 16, 2004, defeating his nearest competitor, Jim Oberweis, by twelve percentage points. [8]

Ryan was a proponent of across-the-board tax cuts and tort reform, an effort to limit payout in medical malpractice lawsuits. He was also a proponent of school choice and supported vouchers for private school students.

Oberweis's 2004 campaign was notable for a television commercial where he flew in a helicopter over Chicago's Soldier Field, and claimed enough illegal immigrants came into America in a week (10,000 a day) to fill the stadium's 61,500 seats. [9] [10] Oberweis was also fined $21,000 by the Federal Election Commission for a commercial for his dairy that ran during his 2004 Senate campaign. The FEC ruled that the commercial wrongly benefited his campaign and constituted a corporate contribution, thus violating campaign law. [11]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [b] 		Margin
of error		Jack
Ryan		Jim
Oberweis		Steve
Rauschenberger		Andrew
McKenna		Jonathan
Wright		John
Borling		Norm
Hill		Chirinjeev
Kathuria		OtherUndecided
Chicago Tribune [12] [A] March 3–6, 2004580 (LV)± 4.0%32%11%8%10%1%2%<1%<1%–35%
Rasmussen Reports [13] [B] March 3, 2004– (LV)–44%18%4%10%––––6%18%
Chicago Tribune [12] [14] [A] February 11–17, 2004– (LV)–30%12%4%8%–––––43%
Chicago Tribune [15] [A] January 6–11, 2004503 (LV)± 4.5%12%16%5%5%–––––57%
Chicago Tribune [16] [A] October 15–20, 2003450 (LV)± 5.0%20%11%4%3%––1%–4%58%

Results

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{} Ryan--50-60% Ryan--40-50% Ryan--30-40% Oberweis--30-40% Rauschenberger--30-40% Rauschenberger--40-50% Rauschenberger--50-60% McKenna--30-40% Wright--30-40% Wright--40-50% Illinois Senate Republican primary, 2004.svg
Results by county
Map legend
  •   Ryan—50–60%
  •   Ryan—40–50%
  •   Ryan—30–40%
  •   Oberweis—30–40%
  •   Rauschenberger—30–40%
  •   Rauschenberger—40–50%
  •   Rauschenberger—50–60%
  •   McKenna—30–40%
  •   Wright—30–40%
  •   Wright—40–50%
Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jack Ryan 234,791 35.5%
Republican Jim Oberweis 155,79423.5%
Republican Steve Rauschenberger 132,65520.0%
Republican Andrew McKenna 97,23814.7%
Republican Jonathan C. Wright 17,1892.6%
Republican John L. Borling 13,3902.0%
Republican Norm Hill5,6370.9%
Republican Chirinjeev Kathuria 5,1100.8%
Total votes661,804 100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

  • Matt O'Shea, Mayor of Metamora, Illinois. He withdrew December 1, 2003 due to poor polling numbers. He endorsed Gery Chico. [17]

Source: [18]

Campaign

Obama float at the 2004 Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic 20040814 Bud Billiken Obama float.JPG
Obama float at the 2004 Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic

Fitzgerald's predecessor, Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, declined to run. [19] Barack Obama, a member of the Illinois Senate since 1997 and an unsuccessful 2000 Democratic primary challenger to four-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush for Rush's U.S House seat, launched a campaign committee at the beginning of July 2002 to run for the U.S. Senate, 21 months before the March 2004 primary, [20] and two months later had David Axelrod lined up to do his campaign media. [21] Obama formally announced his candidacy on January 21, 2003, [22] four days after former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun announced she would not seek a rematch with U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. [23]

On April 15, 2003, with six Democrats already running and three Republicans threatening to run against him, [24] incumbent Fitzgerald announced he would not seek a second term in 2004. [25] Three weeks later, popular Republican former Governor Jim Edgar declined to run, [26] leading to wide open Democratic and Republican primary races with 15 candidates. The two primary races included 7 millionaires, [27] and triggered the first application of the Millionaires' Amendment of the 2002 McCain–Feingold Act, in what was, at that time, the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history. [28]

Obama touted his legislative experience and early public opposition to the Iraq War to distinguish himself from his Democratic primary rivals. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes won the endorsement of the AFL–CIO. Obama succeeded in obtaining the support of three of the state's largest and most active member unions: AFSCME, SEIU, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Hynes and multimillionaire former securities trader Blair Hull each won the endorsements of two of the nine Democratic Illinois members of the US House of Representatives. Obama had the endorsements of four: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis, Lane Evans, and Jan Schakowsky.

Obama surged into the lead after he finally began television advertising in Chicago in the final three weeks of the campaign, which was expanded to downstate Illinois during the last six days of the campaign. The ads included strong endorsements by the five largest newspapers in Illinois—the Chicago Tribune , Chicago Sun-Times , Daily Herald , The Rockford Register Star , and Peoria Journal Star —and a testimonial by Sheila Simon that Obama was "cut from that same cloth" as her father, the late former U.S. Senator Paul Simon, who had planned to endorse and campaign for Obama before his unexpected death in December 2003. [29]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [b] 		Margin
of error		Barack
Obama		Daniel
Hynes		Blair
Hull		Maria
Pappas		Gery
Chico		Nancy
Skinner		Joyce
Washington		Undecided
Chicago Tribune [12] [A] March 3–6, 2004602 (LV)± 4.0%33%19%16%8%6%1%1%16%
Rasmussen Reports [13] [B] March 3, 2004– (LV)–28%22%23%10%3%1%3%11%
Rasmussen Reports [13] [B] February 19, 2004– (LV)–17%17%27%14%5%2%1%16%
Chicago Tribune [12] [14] [A] February 11–17, 2004– (LV)–15%11%24%9%5%–1%34%
Chicago Tribune [15] [A] January 6–11, 2004528 (LV)± 4.5%14%14%10%14%6%––38%
Chicago Tribune [16] [A] October 15–20, 2003450 (LV)± 5.0%9%12%6%16%6%3%2%45%
10%15%6%–8%4%3%54%

Results

On March 16, 2004, Obama won the Democratic primary by an unexpected landslide—receiving 53% of the vote, 29% ahead of his nearest Democratic rival, with a vote total that nearly equaled that of all eight Republican candidates combined—which overnight made him a rising star in the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father . [30] [31] The Democratic primary election, including seven candidates who combined to spend over $46 million, was the most expensive U.S. Senate primary election in history.

Results by county Map legend Obama--60-70% Obama--50-60% Obama--40-50% Obama--30-40% Hynes--30-40% Hynes--40-50% Hynes--50-60% Hynes--60-70% Hynes--70-80% Hull--30-40% Hull--40-50% Hull--50-60% Illinois Senate Democratic primary, 2004.svg
Results by county
Map legend
  •   Obama—60–70%
  •   Obama—50–60%
  •   Obama—40–50%
  •   Obama—30–40%
  •   Hynes—30–40%
  •   Hynes—40–50%
  •   Hynes—50–60%
  •   Hynes—60–70%
  •   Hynes—70–80%
  •   Hull—30–40%
  •   Hull—40–50%
  •   Hull—50–60%
Democratic primary results [32]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Barack Obama 655,923 52.8%
Democratic Daniel W. Hynes 294,71723.7%
Democratic M. Blair Hull 134,45310.8%
Democratic Maria Pappas 74,9876.0%
Democratic Gery Chico 53,4334.3%
Democratic Nancy Skinner 16,0981.3%
Democratic Joyce Washington13,3751.1%
Democratic Estella Johnson-Hunt (write-in)100.0%
Total votes1,242,996 100.0%

General election

Obama vs. Ryan

As a result of the GOP and Democratic primaries, Democrat Barack Obama was pitted against Republican Jack Ryan.

Ryan trailed Obama in early polls, after the media reported that Ryan had assigned Justin Warfel, a Ryan campaign worker, to track Obama's appearances. [33] The tactic backfired when many people, including Ryan's supporters, criticized this activity. Ryan's spokesman apologized, and promised that Warfel would give Obama more space. Obama acknowledged that it is standard practice to film an opponent in public, and Obama said he was satisfied with Ryan's decision to have Warfel back off. [33]

As the campaign progressed, the lawsuit brought by the Chicago Tribune to open child custody files from Ryan's divorce was still continuing. Barack Obama's backers emailed reporters about the divorce controversy, but refrained from on-the-record commentary. [34] On March 29, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider ruled that several of the Ryans' divorce records should be opened to the public, and ruled that a court-appointed referee would later decide which custody files should remain sealed to protect the interests of Ryan's young child. [35] A few days later, on April 2, 2004, Barack Obama changed his position about the Ryans' soon-to-be-released divorce records, and called on Democrats to not inject them into the campaign. [34]

On June 22, 2004, after receiving the report from the court appointed referee, the judge released the files that were deemed consistent with the interests of Ryan's young child. In those files, Jeri Ryan alleged that Jack Ryan had taken her to sex clubs in several cities, intending for them to have sex in public. [36] [37]

The decision to release the files generated much controversy because it went against both parents' direct request, and because it reversed the earlier decision to seal the papers in the best interest of the child. Jim Oberweis, Ryan's defeated GOP opponent, commented that "these are allegations made in a divorce hearing, and we all know people tend to say things that aren't necessarily true in divorce proceedings when there is money involved and custody of children involved." [36]

Although their sensational nature made the revelations fodder for tabloid and television programs specializing in such stories, the files were also newsworthy because of questions about whether Ryan had accurately described the documents to GOP party leaders. Prior to release of the documents, Ryan had told leading Republicans that five percent of the divorce file could cause problems for his campaign. [38] But after the documents were released, GOP officials including state GOP Chair Judy Baar Topinka said they felt Ryan had misleadingly indicated the divorce records would not be embarrassing. [39]

That charge of dishonesty led to intensifying calls for Ryan's withdrawal, though Topinka, who was considering running herself, said after the June 25 withdrawal that Ryan's "decision was a personal one" and that the state GOP had not pressured Ryan to drop out. [40] Ryan's campaign ended less than a week after the custody records were opened, and Ryan officially filed the documentation to withdraw on July 29, 2004. Obama was left without an opponent.

Obama vs. Keyes

The Illinois Republican State Central Committee chose former diplomat Alan Keyes to replace Ryan as the Republican candidate after former governor Jim Edgar, Topinka, and former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka declined to run. [41] Farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson was prepared to accept the nomination but was forced to abandon those plans under a doctor's orders. [42] Keyes, a conservative Republican, faced an uphill battle. First, as a native of Maryland, he had almost no ties to Illinois. Second, he had an unsuccessful electoral track record, losing two races for U.S. Senate in Maryland by landslides and making unsuccessful bids for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000. [43] Third, Keyes's lack of electoral momentum enabled Obama to focus on campaigning in more conservative downstate regions, an unusual move for an Illinois Democrat. [44]

Media lambasted Keyes for what they considered his parachute candidacy. The Chicago Tribune published a scathing editorial, calling him "[t]he GOP's rent-a-senator" and sarcastically listing basic facts about local geography for a candidate they suspected had no familiarity with the area: "Keyes may have noticed a large body of water as he flew into O'Hare. That is called Lake Michigan. It's large. It's wide. It's deep. And we'll spoil the surprise: You can't even see across it." [45] In a similar vein, The New York Times published an editorial decrying "the rank hypocrisy", recalling that four years earlier, Keyes had attacked Hillary Clinton for establishing residency in New York for the first time only two months before announcing her U.S. Senate candidacy in that state. [46] Keyes attacked Barack Obama for voting against a bill that would have outlawed a form of late-term abortion. [47]

Race became an issue in the contest between the two black candidates when Keyes claimed that he, not Obama, was the true "African-American". The black voters of Illinois voted 92% for Obama. [48] [49]

Obama ran the most successful Senate campaign in 2004, and was so far ahead in polls that he soon began to campaign outside of Illinois in support of other Democratic candidates. He gave large sums of campaign funds to other candidates and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and sent many of his volunteers to work on other races, including that of eventual three-term Congresswoman Melissa Bean who defeated then-Congressman Phil Crane in that year's election. Obama and Keyes differed on many issues including school vouchers and tax cuts, both of which Keyes supported and Obama opposed. [50]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [51] Safe D (flip)November 1, 2004

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [b] 		Margin
of error		Alan
Keyes (R)		Barack
Obama (D)		OtherUndecided
SurveyUSA [52] [C] October 27–29, 2004655 (LV)± 3.9%27%66%5%1%
Research 2000 [53] October 27–28, 2004600 (LV)± 4.0%25%67%–8%
Research 2000 [54] [D] October 21–23, 2004800 (LV)± 3.5%25%67%–8%
Chicago Tribune [55] [A] October 16–19, 2004700 (LV)± 4.0%19%66%6%9%
SurveyUSA [56] [C] October 4–6, 2004636 (LV)± 4.0%23%68%7%2%
Rasmussen Reports [57] [B] October 5, 2004500 (LV)± 4.5%20%64%7% [c] 9%
Research 2000 [58] October 3–4, 2004600 (LV)± 4.0%24%69%–7%
Chicago Tribune [59] [A] September 17–20, 2004700 (LV)± 4.0%17%68%3%12%
Research 2000 [60] [D] September 14–16, 2004800 (LV)± 3.5%23%68%–9%
Chicago Tribune [61] [A] August 13–16, 2004700 (LV)± 4.0%24%65%–11%
SurveyUSA [62] August 8–6, 2004612 (RV)± 4.0%28%67%–5%
Hypothetical polling

Jack Ryan vs. Barack Obama

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [b] 		Margin
of error		Jack
Ryan (R)		Barack
Obama (D)		OtherUndecided
Chicago Tribune [63] [A] May 21–24, 2004600 (RV)± 4.0%30%52%–8%
Rasmussen Reports [64] [B] May 12, 2004500 (LV)± 4.5%40%48%–12%

Results

Map of 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois swing by county.svg
Illinois County Trend Senate 2004.svg
Illinois County Flips Senate 2004.svg
2004 United States Senate election in Illinois [5] [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Barack Obama 3,597,456 69.97% +22.6%
Republican Alan Keyes 1,390,69027.05%−23.3%
Independent Al Franzen81,1641.6%N/A
Libertarian Jerry Kohn69,2531.3%N/A
Write-in 2,9570.1%N/A
Total votes5,141,520 100.0% N/A
Democratic gain from Republican

By county

By county
County [65] Barack Obama
Democratic 		Alan Keyes
Republican 		Other
Third party/Write-in 		MarginTotal
votes
#%#%#%#%
Adams 16,03652.38%13,85745.12%7202.35%2,1797.12%30,613
Alexander 2,39565.60%1,14831.44%1082.96%1,24734.16%3,651
Bond 4,22758.78%2,71737.78%2473.43%1,51021.00%7,191
Boone 11,20658.62%7,31738.28%5923.10%3,88920.35%19,115
Brown 1,30853.26%1,07343.69%753.05%2359.57%2,456
Bureau 10,64861.12%6,28436.07%4892.81%4,36425.05%17,421
Calhoun 1,60461.69%91235.08%843.23%69226.62%2,600
Carroll 4,96162.47%2,73034.38%2503.15%2,23128.09%7,941
Cass 3,34161.30%1,89634.79%2133.91%1,44526.51%5,450
Champaign 51,81364.53%25,54831.82%2,9363.66%26,26532.71%80,297
Christian 9,32362.52%5,10134.21%4892.66%14,91328.31%12,417
Clark 3,56646.52%3,83350.01%2663.47%-267-3.48%7,665
Clay 2,50539.77%3,61457.37%1802.86%-1,109-17.61%6,299
Clinton 9,43757.10%6,56539.72%5263.18%2,87217.38%16,528
Coles 12,75857.77%8,62539.06%7003.17%4,13318.72%22,083
Cook 1,629,29681.14%329,67116.42%49,1122.45%1,299,62564.72%2,008,079
Crawford 4,30248.08%4,26147.62%3854.30%410.46%8,948
Cumberland 2,59849.34%2,49247.32%1763.34%1062.01%5,266
DeKalb 26,07765.70%11,95430.12%1,6634.19%14,12335.58%39,694
DeWitt 4,34057.51%2,97339.39%2343.10%1,36718.11%7,547
Douglas 4,23951.53%3,71745.18%2713.29%5226.34%8,227
DuPage 251,44564.30%124,64231.87%14,9543.82%126,80332.43%391,041
Edgar 4,01449.24%3,85847.33%2803.43%1561.91%8,152
Edwards 1,15536.91%1,87659.96%983.13%-721-23.04%3,129
Effingham 6,26440.05%8,93057.09%4482.86%-2,666-17.0415,642
Fayette 4,82652.22%4,12744.65%2893.13%6997.56%9,242
Ford 3,02148.44%2,98447.85%2313.70%370.59%6,236
Franklin 11,94963.91%6,22133.27%5281.67%5,72830.63%18,698
Fulton 11,72970.13%4,55627.24%4402.63%7,17342.89%16,725
Gallatin 2,10970.63%78626.32%913.05%1,32344.31%2,986
Greene 3,34357.36%2,28139.14%2043.50%1,06218.22%5,828
Grundy 12,28563.79%6,30832.76%6653.45%5,97731.04%19,258
Hamilton 2,45857.51%1,68039.31%1363.18%77818.20%4,274
Hancock 5,14353.84%4,12543.18%2842.97%1,01810.66%9,552
Hardin 1,25353.78%99142.53%863.69%26211.24%2,330
Henderson 2,70467.10%1,19529.65%1313.25%1,50937.44%4,030
Henry 15,96564.53%8,21933.22%5572.25%7,74631.31%24,741
Iroquois 6,17746.33%6,73650.52%4203.15%-559-4.19%13,333
Jackson 17,29569.04%6,92427.64%8313.32%10,37141.40%25,050
Jasper 2,14142.30%2,76854.68%1533.02%-627-12.39%5,062
Jefferson 9,11155.79%6,77841.50%4432.71%2,33314.28%16,332
Jersey 5,67057.91%3,82539.07%2963.02%1,84518.84%9,791
Jo Daviess 6,71460.75%3,96835.91%3693.34%2,74624.85%11,051
Johnson 2,78149.87%2,61746.93%1783.19%1642.94%5,576
Kane 101,10563.32%52,31932.77%6,2523.92%48,78630.55%159,676
Kankakee 28,16463.85%14,61433.13%1,3343.02%13,55030.72%44,112
Kendall 18,45058.85%11,52236.75%1,3814.40%6,92822.10%31,353
Knox 17,09870.27%6,70327.55%5312.18%10,39542.72%24,332
Lake 183,71768.59%75,19928.08%8,9253.33%108,51840.52%229,413
LaSalle 32,19365.02%15,67631.66%1,6403.31%16,51733.36%49,509
Lawrence 3,25550.50%2,95645.86%2353.65%2994.64%6,446
Lee 8,87357.07%6,18639.79%4883.14%2,68717.28%15,547
Livingston 8,47454.76%6,51342.08%4893.16%1,96112.67%15,476
Logan 6,94553.99%5,51742.89%4013.12%1,42811.10%12,863
Macon 30,72960.84%18,51136.65%1,2652.50%12,21824.19%50,505
Macoupin 14,42365.10%6,94631.35%7853.54%7,47733.75%22,154
Madison 77,20864.00%39,43132.69%3,9993.31%37,77731.31%120,638
Marion 10,08860.39%6,09936.51%5173.10%3,98923.88%16,704
Marshall 3,90960.89%2,35436.67%1572.45%1,55524.22%6,420
Mason 4,49864.84%2,23032.15%2093.01%2,26832.69%6,937
Massac 3,30946.27%3,68951.59%1532.14%-380-5.31%7,151
McDonough 9,42265.23%4,69332.49%3302.28%4,72932.74%14,445
McHenry 76,65261.62%42,93634.51%4,8143.87%33,71627.10%124,402
McLean 43,02761.65%25,04035.87%1,7312.48%17,98725.77%69,798
Menard 3,52956.15%2,45339.03%3034.82%1,07617.12%6,285
Mercer 5,72966.27%2,68531.06%2312.67%3,04435.21%8,645
Monroe 9,15058.12%6,08938.68%5043.20%3,06119.44%15,743
Montgomery 7,90363.52%4,07832.78%4613.71%3,82530.74%12,442
Morgan 8,57858.37%5,47837.28%6404.35%3,10021.09%14,696
Moultrie 3,44955.41%2,62242.13%1532.46%82713.29%6,224
Ogle 12,90354.77%9,91242.07%7433.15%2,99112.70%23,558
Peoria 55,06167.58%24,88830.55%1,5211.87%30,17337.04%81,470
Perry 6,46464.33%3,28532.69%2991.56%3,17931.64%10,048
Piatt 4,54854.98%3,39641.05%3283.97%1,15213.93%8,272
Pike 3,88750.21%3,57346.15%2823.64%3144.06%7,742
Pope 1,21152.54%1,02044.25%743.21%1918.29%2,305
Pulaski 1,74958.97%1,13738.33%802.70%61220.63%2,966
Putnam 2,19267.43%97129.87%882.71%1,22137.56%3,251
Randolph 9,00962.53%4,96134.43%4373.03%4,04828.10%14,407
Richland 3,04840.92%4,18556.19%2.892.18%-1,137-15.27%7,448
Rock Island 49,09671.08%18,62026.96%1,3561.96%30,47644.12%69,072
Saline 6,85160.84%4,13336.71%2762.45%2,71824.14%11,260
Sangamon 57,38562.38%29,43231.99%5,1815.63%27,95330.38%91,998
Schuyler 2,24157.71%1,54239.71%1002.58%69918.00%3,883
Scott 1,31552.43%1,10143.90%923.67%2148.53%2,508
Shelby 5,36452.29%4,62645.09%2692.62%7387.19%10,259
St. Clair 74,44767.12%33,28830.01%3,1882.87%41,15937.11%110,923
Stark 1,72258.75%1,11938.18%903.07%60320.57%2,931
Stephenson 12,24459.11%7,88238.05%5892.84%4,36221.06%20,715
Tazewell 36,05859.67%22,95537.99%1,4142.34%13,10321.68%60,427
Union 4,76154.91%3,33838.50%5716.59%1,42316.41%8,670
Vermilion 19,50059.16%12,41337.66%1,0483.18%7,08721.50%32,961
Wabash 2,40441.94%3,11054.26%2183.80%-706-12.32%5,732
Warren 5,40265.40%2,68532.51%1732.09%2,71732.89%8,260
Washington 4,11053.54%3,31543.19%2513.27%79510.36%7,676
Wayne 3,23340.58%4,50256.51%2322.91%-1,269-15.93%7,967
White 4,03851.56%3,49244.59%3013.84%5466.97%7,831
Whiteside 17,58567.23%7,87930.12%6932.65%9,70637.11%26,157
Will 162,89166.76%72,78629.83%8,3263.41%90,10536.93%244,003
Williamson 17,11358.94%10,90237.55%1,0183.51%6,21121.39%29,033
Winnebago 74,91162.89%40,47033.98%3,7273.13%34,44128.92%119,108
Woodford 9,30450.86%8,55046.74%4382.39%7544.12%18,292
Totals3,597,45669.97%1,390,69027.05%153,3742.98%2,206,76642.92%5,141,520

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Analysis

The Obama-Keyes race was one of the first to be called on Election Day, November 2, 2004. At the start of Keyes' candidacy in August, Keyes had 24% support in the polls. He received 27% of the vote in the November general election to Obama's 70%. [66]

Following the election, Keyes refused to call Obama to congratulate him. Media reports claimed that Keyes also failed to concede the race to Obama. [67] Two days after the election, a radio interviewer asked Keyes whether he had conceded the race. Keyes replied, "Of course I've conceded the race. I mean, I gave my speech to that effect." [68]

On the radio program, Keyes explained that his refusal to congratulate Obama was "not anything personal," but was meant to make a statement against "extend[ing] false congratulations to the triumph of what we have declared to be across the line." He said that Obama's position on moral issues regarding life and the family had crossed that line. "I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for... a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country? I can't do this. And I will not make a false gesture," Keyes said. [68]

Obama would go on to be elected President of the United States in 2008.

Voter demographics

Voter demographic data for 2004 was collected by CNN. The voter survey is based on exit polls completed by 1,373 voters in person as well as by phone. [69]

2004 United States Senate election voter demographics in Illinois (CNN) [69]
Demographic subgroupKeyesObama % of
total vote
Ideology
Liberals 89123
Moderates 188050
Conservatives 613327
Party
Democrats 59440
Republicans 564033
Independents 247427
Gender
Men306745
Women257355
Race/ethnicity
White 316678
Black 89210
Latino 17829
Asian N/AN/A2
OtherN/AN/A1
Gender by race/ethnicity
White men336436
White women286942
Non-White men198110
Non-White women118813
Age
18–29 years old257321
30–44 years old277030
45–59 years old267229
60 and older326520
Income
Under $15,00028727
$15–30,000277112
$30–50,000297024
$50–75,000277124
$75–100,000247214
$100–150,000247011
$150–200,000N/AN/A4
$200,000 or More25754
Religion
Protestant 376047
Catholic 237536
Jewish N/AN/A3
Other8925
None15849
Issue regarded as most important
War in Iraq 128821
Economy/Jobs 49320
Moral Issues613819
Terrorism 405118
Healthcare 12885
Taxes 41595
Education 25755
Decision to go to war in Iraq
Strongly Approve652922
Somewhat Approve385925
Somewhat Disapprove118718
Strongly Disapprove49434
Bush job approval
Strongly Approve613428
Somewhat Approve385619
Somewhat Disapprove138715
Strongly Disapprove49638
Region
Chicago 118820
Cook County Suburbs237520
Collar counties 326523
Northern Illinois 356224
Southern Illinois 366113
Area type
Urban198031
Suburban277047
Rural405822

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Replaced Jack Ryan.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  3. ↑ Albert Franzen (I) with 4%; Jerry Kohn (L) with 3%

Partisan clients

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Poll conducted for WGN-TV
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Poll sponsored by Daily Southtown
  3. 1 2 Poll conducted for WBBM-TV and KSDK-TV
  4. 1 2 Poll sponsored by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV

References

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  8. ↑ Davey, Monica (March 17, 2004). "From Crowded Field, Democrats Choose State Legislator to Seek Senate Seat". The New York Times.
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  11. ↑ cbs2chicago.com - Oberweis Fined For Funding Campaign With Dairy Ad Archived December 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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  23. ↑ Krol, Eric (January 18, 2003). "Ex-senator doesn't want rematch with Fitzgerald" (paid archive). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). p. 11. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Zorn, Eric (January 18, 2003). "Moseley-Braun gives Democrats reason for hope". Chicago Tribune. p. 15 (Metro). Archived from the original (paid archive) on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  24. ↑ Krol, Eric (December 9, 2002). "Why senator ending up more isolated; Fitzgerald's style has both Democrats and Republicans planning to challenge him" (paid archive). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). p. 1. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Neal, Steve (April 16, 2003). "Writing was on the wall after latest Fitzgerald polls" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 55. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
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  27. ↑ Davey, Monica (March 7, 2004). "Closely watched Illinois Senate race attracts 7 candidates in millionaire range". The New York Times. p. 1.19. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    "Candidate wealth; net worth of the richest Illinois candidates for the U.S. Senate". The New York Times. March 7, 2004. p. 1.19. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  28. ↑ Justice, Glen (October 17, 2003). "In races with one deep pocket, the law tries to tailor a second". The New York Times. p. A.1. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  29. ↑ Rosenbaum, David E. (December 10, 2003). "Paul Simon, former Senator from Illinois, is dead at 75". The New York Times. p. A29. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Long, Ray (December 10, 2003). "A legacy of honesty and dignity; Straight-talking manner appealed even to conservatives". Chicago Tribune. p. 1. Archived from the original (paid archive) on October 20, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Neal, Steve (December 31, 2003). "Obama's endorsements stacking up; Before he died, former Sen. Paul Simon had decided to endorse Obama" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 33. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Schoenburg, Bernard (February 26, 2004). "Obama gets endorsement from Simon's daughter" (paid archive). The State Journal-Register. p. 12. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Wallace-Wells, Ben (April 1, 2007). "Obama's narrator". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
    Mendell (2007), pp. 227–232
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    Fornek, Scott; Herguth, Robert C. (March 17, 2004). "Obama defeats Hull's millions, Hynes' name; Consistent effort results in landslide for Hyde Parker" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 2. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Brown, Mark (March 17, 2004). "Voters warmed to Obama, the next hot politician" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 2. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Wills, Christopher (Associated Press) (March 18, 2004). "Republican Ryan trying to battle new Democratic star despite questions" (paid archive). Times-Courier. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Mendell, David (March 18, 2004). "Ryan, Obama enter new ring; Democrat carries high hopes of blacks with him to center stage". Chicago Tribune. p. 1. Archived from the original (paid archive) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Sweet, Lynn (March 18, 2004). "Senate Democrats race to raise cash for Obama. The Obama campaign energized voters. The Ryan election did not get people to the polls" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 43. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Krol, Eric (March 18, 2004). "Campaign starts early for Ryan, Obama; Senate hopefuls already trying to define each other" (paid archive). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). p. 1. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    "Illinois primary victor is Party's Senate hope; Democratic leaders see the state as a key battleground in their effort to regain control". Los Angeles Times. March 18, 2004. p. A25. Archived from the original (paid archive) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Tilove, Jonathan (Newhouse News Service) (March 18, 2004). "Barack Obama: Black Senate candidate a rising star" (paid archive). Mobile Register. p. A06. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
    Davey, Monica (March 18, 2004). "As quickly as overnight, a Democratic star is born". The New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
    Howlett, Debbie (March 19, 2004). "Dems see a rising star in Illinois Senate candidate". USA Today. p. A04. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
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    Scheiber, Noam (May 31, 2004). "Race against history. Barack Obama's miraculous campaign". The New Republic. pp. 21–22, 24–26 (cover story). Retrieved December 14, 2009.
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    Cader, Michael (July 30, 2004). "Publishers eyeing Obama". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on April 28, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
    Leroux, Charles (August 6, 2004). "The buzz around Obama's book". Chicago Tribune. p. 1 (Tempo). Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
    Sweet, Lynn (March 17, 2005). "Be-bop, Barack and bucks from book". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 39. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
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  33. 1 2 Mendell, David (May 23, 2004). "Ryan aide to give Obama more space". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on December 5, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
  34. 1 2 Fornek, Scott. "Obama: Back off divorce files", Chicago Sun-Times (April 3, 2004).
  35. ↑ Ford, Liam. “Some Ryan divorce files should be unsealed”, Chicago Tribune (March 30, 2004).
  36. 1 2 Kinzer, Stephen; Jo Napolitano (June 23, 2004). "Illinois Senate Campaign Thrown Into Prurient Turmoil". The New York Times . Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  37. ↑ Lannan, Maura Kelly (June 22, 2004). "Illinois Republican vows to stay in Senate race despite embarrassing allegations". SignOnSanDiego.com. Associated Press. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
  38. ↑ Martinez, Michael; Pearson, Rick. “Court sets release of Ryan's divorce file”, Chicago Tribune (June 18, 2004).
  39. ↑ Pearson, Rick; Ford, Liam. “GOP leaders say they felt misled on Ryan file”, Chicago Tribune (June 23, 2004).
  40. ↑ Ford, Liam; Bush, Rudolph. “Ryan Quits Race”, Chicago Tribune June 26, 2004.
  41. ↑ "Ditka Spikes Illinois Senate Run". CBS News . Associated Press. July 14, 2004.
  42. ↑ Bergmeier, Dave (March 29, 2024). "Ag broadcasting giant Samuelson turns 90". High Plains Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  43. ↑ "Keyes challenges Obama for Illinois Senate seat". CNN . August 9, 2004.
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  49. ↑ Andra Gillespie (2010). Whose Black Politics?: Cases in Post-Racial Black Leadership. Routledge. pp. 143–44. ISBN   9781135851088.
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  57. ↑ McQueary, Kristen (October 7, 2004). "Illinoisans don't like Alan Keyes – Daily Southtown poll shows a third of state's Republicans voting for Obama". Daily Southtown . Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
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