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The 2006 Election for statewide offices in the State of Illinois were held on 7 November 2006. On that date, registered voters in the State of Illinois were eligible to elect officeholders in six statewide offices: the office of Governor of Illinois, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Illinois Attorney General, Illinois Secretary of State, Illinois Treasurer and Illinois Comptroller.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois has been noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state. The governor is responsible for enacting laws passed by the Illinois General Assembly. Illinois is one of 14 states that does not have a gubernatorial term-limit. The governor is commander-in-chief of the state's land, air and sea forces, when they are in state service.
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor ran separately in the primary from candidates for governor until 2014, when the system was changed to allow the gubernatorial nominee of a party to select the nominee for lieutenant governor. When the Governor of Illinois becomes unable to discharge the duties of that office, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor. If the Governor dies, resigns or is removed from office, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. Under the Illinois Constitution, the Attorney General is next in line of succession to the Governor's office after the lieutenant governor, but does not succeed to the Lieutenant Governor's office. From the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich in 2009 until the inauguration of Sheila Simon in 2011, Attorney General Lisa Madigan would have become Governor if Pat Quinn had vacated the office. Historically, the lieutenant governor has been from either the Democratic Party or Republican Party. The current lieutenant governor is Democrat Juliana Stratton.
Contents
- Candidates
- Governor
- Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Comptroller
- Treasurer
- Political parties
- See also
- References
- External links
The incumbent Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, previously the only Republican elected statewide, made an unsuccessful run for Governor rather than stand for re-election. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias was elected to succeed her, and the Democratic incumbents for the other statewide offices won re-election, making Illinois the only Midwestern state in which Democrats hold all statewide offices.
Judy Baar Topinka was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois.
The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its main rival, the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.
