2020 United States Senate election in Illinois

Last updated

2020 United States Senate election in Illinois
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Turnout72.14%
  Dick Durbin 117th Congress portrait (1) (tight crop).jpeg 3x4.svg
Nominee Dick Durbin Mark Curran
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote3,278,9302,319,870
Percentage54.93%38.87%
2020 United States Senate election in Illinois results map by county.svg
2020 United States Senate election in Illinois by congressional district.svg
IL Senate 2020.svg
Durbin:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Curran:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:      40–50%     No data
U.S. senator before election

Dick Durbin
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dick Durbin
Democratic

The 2020 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Illinois, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections and the Illinois Fair Tax. Incumbent Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who had been Senate Minority Whip since 2015, won reelection to a fifth term in office, defeating Republican nominee Mark Curran.

Contents

Durbin decisively won re-election with 54.9% of the vote. Key to Durbin's landslide victory was the heavily populated and very Democratic Cook County home of Chicago, which he won by around 560,000 votes. Durbin also did well in the suburban, often called collar counties of Chicago, winning all of them except McHenry County. Durbin did well in Champaign County, home of the University of Illinois, and St. Clair County, where his birth home of East St. Louis is located. Nevertheless, Curran did well in most rural areas of the state, including winning rural Alexander County where a Republican had not won since 1972. Durbin became the first senator from Illinois to be elected five consecutive times since senators began being elected by popular vote in 1913. [1]

Background

The primaries and general elections coincide with those for federal (president and House) and those for state offices.

For the primaries, turnout was 28.36% with 2,279,439 votes cast. [2] [3]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Dick Durbin (incumbent) 1,446,118 100.00%
Total votes1,446,118 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Mark Curran

U.S. representatives

U.S. Lieutenant Governors

U.S. Attorneys General

  • Jim Ryan, former Attorney General of Illinois

Illinois legislators

Newspapers

Organizations

Individuals

[30]

Results

Results by county Curran .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{} Curran--60-70% Curran--50-60% Curran--40-50% Curran--30-40% Curran--<30% Hubbard Hubbard--40-50% Hubbard--30-40% Hubbard--<30 Tarter Tarter--30-40% Tarter--<30 Illinois Senate Republican primary, 2020.svg
Results by county
Curran
  •   Curran—60–70%
  •   Curran—50–60%
  •   Curran—40–50%
  •   Curran—30–40%
  •   Curran—<30%
Hubbard
  •   Hubbard—40–50%
  •   Hubbard—30–40%
  •   Hubbard—<30
Tarter
  •   Tarter—30–40%
  •   Tarter—<30
Republican primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mark Curran 205,747 41.55%
Republican Peggy Hubbard113,18922.86%
Republican Robert Marshall75,56115.26%
Republican Tom Tarter73,00914.74%
Republican Casey Chlebek27,6555.58%
Republican Richard Mayers (write-in)70.00%
Total votes495,168 100.00%

Other candidates

A legal ruling, taking note of the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois, allowed the Libertarian and Green Parties to have their selected candidate on the ballot without the normal signature requirements, as they each ran a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016. [31]

Constitution Party

Removed from Ballot

  • Chad Koppie, perennial candidate and former member of the Kane County Regional Board Of School Trustees. [27] [32]

Green Party

Nominee

  • David F. Black, Green Party nominee for Illinois Attorney General in 2010 [33]

Independent American Party

Withdrawn

Libertarian Party

Nominee

Willie Wilson Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

  • Kevin Keely, substitute teacher and community activist (as a write-in candidate) [42] [43]
  • Albert A. Schaal (as a write-in candidate) [44]
  • Lowell Martin Seida, perennial candidate (as a write-in candidate) [45]

Withdrawn

  • Patrick Feges [46] [32]
  • Julie Rushing [46]
  • Connor Vlakancic, affiliated with the Republican Party (switched from Republican candidacy) [27] [32]

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [47] Safe DOctober 29, 2020
Inside Elections [48] Safe DOctober 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball [49] Safe DNovember 2, 2020
Daily Kos [50] Safe DOctober 30, 2020
Politico [51] Safe DNovember 2, 2020
RCP [52] Safe DOctober 23, 2020
DDHQ [53] Safe DNovember 3, 2020
538 [54] Safe DNovember 2, 2020
Economist [55] Safe DNovember 2, 2020

Additional general election endorsements

Mark Curran (R)

Organizations

Willie Wilson (WW)

Alderman

Organizations

  • Chicago Police Union [78]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Dick
Durbin (D)		Mark
Curran (R)		Willie
Wilson (I)		OtherUndecided
Research Co. [79] October 31 – November 1, 2020450 (LV)± 4.6%52%30%–4% [b] 14%
Victory Research [80] October 26 – November 1, 20201,208 (LV)± 2.8%51%26%15%5% [c] 4%
Hypothetical polling

with Dick Durbin, generic Republican and Willie Wilson

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Dick
Durbin (D)		Generic Republican (R)Willie
Wilson (I)		Undecided
Ogden & Fry/Citizens for Willie Wilson [81] [A] September 4, 2019449 (LV)± 4.31%44%34%4%18%

with Dick Durbin and Willie Wilson

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Dick
Durbin (D)		Willie
Wilson (I)		Undecided
Ogden & Fry/Citizens for Willie Wilson [81] [A] September 4, 2019420 (LV)± 4.31%44%25%31%

Results

Durbin also kept his landslide winning streak by winning with at least a ten-point margin. Durbin was sworn in on January 3, 2021, for his fifth term, which expires on January 3, 2027.

United States Senate election in Illinois, 2020 [82]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Dick Durbin (incumbent) 3,278,930 54.93% +1.38%
Republican Mark Curran 2,319,87038.87%−3.82%
Willie Wilson Party Willie Wilson 237,6993.98%N/A
Libertarian Danny Malouf75,6731.27%−2.49%
Green David Black56,7110.95%N/A
Write-in 180.00%N/A
Total votes5,968,901 100.0%
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Durbin won 12 of the 18 congressional districts, with the remaining 6 going to Curran, including one that elected a Democrat. [83]

DistrictDurbinCurranRepresentative
1st 64%22% Bobby Rush
2nd 68%18% Robin Kelly
3rd 55%37% Dan Lipinski
Marie Newman
4th 78%14% Chuy García
5th 69%25% Mike Quigley
6th 51%44% Sean Casten
7th 75%12% Danny Davis
8th 58%37% Raja Krishnamoorthi
9th 68%27% Jan Schakowsky
10th 60%36% Brad Schneider
11th 59%35% Bill Foster
12th 44%53% Mike Bost
13th 47.7%48.3% Rodney Davis
14th 47%48% Lauren Underwood
15th 29%68% Mary Miller
16th 41%55% Adam Kinzinger
17th 49%48% Cheri Bustos
18th 37%60% Darin LaHood

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ↑ "Someone else" with 4%
  3. ↑ Malouf (L) with 3%; Black (G) with 2%

Partisan clients

  1. 1 2 Poll sponsored by Willie Wilson's campaign

References

  1. ↑ "Illinois U.S. Senate Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Election Results 2020 GENERAL PRIMARY". Illinois State Board of Elections . Retrieved April 17, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Greenwood, Max (January 3, 2019). "Dick Durbin: I'm running for reelection in 2020". The Hill. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ @chooselove2020 (December 3, 2019). "While our campaign to unseat Dick Durbin has come to an end, the work of our grassroots movement of economic, political, racial & environmental justice is never over. I will doing everything I can to help Bernie win & my fellow down ballot progressives in IL. Not me, us!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2019– via Twitter.
  6. ↑ Pearson, Rick (July 16, 2019). "With just $9.72 in the bank, Democratic lawmaker from Naperville officially ends long-shot primary challenge to Sen. Dick Durbin". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  7. ↑ Gonzales, Nathan (November 7, 2018). "It's Not Too Early to Start Looking at the 2020 Senate Map". Roll Call. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ Hayden, Sarah (September 18, 2019). "Bustos has three challengers; McCombie running again". Quad-City Times. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  9. ↑ Korecki, Natasha (September 15, 2017). "Madigan stuns Illinois by announcing she won't seek reelection". Politico. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Liam. "BRADY EXPANDS ENDORSEMENTS TO 8 GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION CHAMPIONS FOR U.S. SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES". Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ "MARCH 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION ENDORSED CANDIDATES" (PDF). Chicago Federation of Labor. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ "End Citizens United Endorses 39 Candidates 10 Years After Citizens United Decision". End Citizens United. January 21, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Illinois AFL-CIO 2020 Primary Election Endorsements" (PDF). Illinois AFL-CIO. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Sen. Dick Durbin (D, IL)". J Street PAC. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  15. ↑ "2020 FEDERAL ENDORSEMENTS". National Organization for Women PAC. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Election 2020 Endorsed Candidates". Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ "VOTE FOR SIERRA CLUB'S CLIMATE CHAMPIONS 2020 ENDORSEMENTS". Sierra Club Independent Action. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Report: Former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran to run for U.S. Senate". Daily Herald. August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  19. ↑ Bustos, Joseph (September 5, 2019). "These candidates have announced they are running for office in the 2020 election". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  20. ↑ Cox, Benjamin (August 8, 2019). "Crowded Race for Illinois U.S. Senate Seat Shaping Up for 2020". WLDS AM. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  21. ↑ Schwaller, Kevin (July 9, 2019). "Former candidate for governor Robert Marshall challenging Durbin for U.S. Senator". WMBD-TV. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  22. ↑ Sfondeles, Tina (August 11, 2017). "Pritzker wins key Dem nod for gov, vows victory 'up and down' ticket". Chicago Sun Times. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  23. ↑ "LIST OF PERSONS WHO FILED A DECLARATION OF INTENT TO BE A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE" (PDF). Kane County Clerk. January 16, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  24. ↑ "'I snookered them': Illinois Nazi candidate creates GOP dumpster fire". Politico.com. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  25. ↑ Schoenburg, Bernard (August 12, 2019). "Tarter, of Springfield, enters U.S. Senate race". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  26. 1 2 3 "IL US Senate – R Primary". Our Campaigns. April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  27. 1 2 3 "ILLINOIS". Politics1. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  28. 1 2 "2020 Senate At-A-Glance" (PDF). Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  29. ↑ Vlahos, Nick (August 14, 2019). "U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood says he's running for re-election in 2020". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Over 60 endorsements for Mark Curran for US Senate – Mark Curran". Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  31. ↑ "COVID-19 updates: Filing deadline changed". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  32. 1 2 3 "Illinois 2020 Senate Candidate List". Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  33. ↑ "Candidates". Illinois Green Party. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  34. ↑ "The Green Papers: Illinois 2019 General Election". The Green Papers. May 14, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  35. ↑ "The Green Papers: Illinois 2020 General Election". The Green Papers. July 3, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Current Candidates – Libertarian Party of Illinois". www.lpillinois.org. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  37. ↑ Leonard, Jake (January 23, 2020). "Malouf set to seek Libertarian nomination for U.S. Senate at annual convention in East Peoria". Heartland Newsfeed. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Danny Malouf". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  39. ↑ Ortiz, Alex (March 4, 2019). "Crystal Lake Republican aims to challenge Underwood in 2020". www.nwherald.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  40. ↑ Hegarty, Erin (February 26, 2019). "Woodstock-based Republican says he'll run for Underwood's Congressional seat in 2020". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  41. ↑ Donovan, Lisa. "Chicago businessman Willie Wilson says he'll run as an independent to challenge U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in 2020". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  42. ↑ "News". Kevin Kelly for U.S. Senate. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  43. ↑ "ILLINOIS". PoliticsOne. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  44. ↑ "Schaal, Albert A." Our Campaigns. October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  45. ↑ Kosho, Rick (September 4, 2020). "Write-in candidate filing ends". WCMY 1430 AM. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  46. 1 2 "Illinois Senate 2020 Race". Open Secrets. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  47. ↑ "2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  48. ↑ "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  49. ↑ "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  50. ↑ "2020 Senate Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  51. ↑ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
  52. ↑ "Battle for the Senate 2020". RCP. October 23, 2020.
  53. ↑ "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  54. ↑ Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight . Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  55. ↑ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  56. ↑ I am honored to have President @BarackObama’s support in my re-election campaign (Online video). Senator Dick Durbin. October 22, 2020.
  57. ↑ "NDORSEMENT: Dick Durbin for the U.S. Senate and a new Democratic majority". Chicago Sun-Times . September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  58. ↑ "Endorsement: U.S. Senate: Dick Durbin". Daily Chronicle . September 28, 2020. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  59. ↑ "Endorsement: Dick Durbin for U.S. senate". Daily Herald . September 27, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  60. ↑ "Endorsement: Dick Durbin for U.S. Senate – Illinois". The Dispatch /The Rock Island Argus . October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  61. ↑ The Editorial Board. "Editorial | Our choices for Congress". The News-Gazette.
  62. ↑ "Senate Candidates – Council for a Livable World". Council for a Livable World.
  63. ↑ "Everytown For Gun Safety Action Fund Endorses Dick Durbin for U.S. Senate In Illinois". Everytown. June 9, 2020.
  64. ↑ "Giffords Endorses Slate of Senators Running to Bring a Gun Safety Majority to the US Senate". Giffords . May 8, 2020.
  65. ↑ "Human Rights Campaign Endorses 40 House, 5 Senate Pro-Equality Leaders". Human Rights Campaign. May 18, 2020.
  66. ↑ Society, Humane. "2020 Endorsements". Humane Society Legislative Fund.
  67. ↑ "Meet the 2020 Candidates". Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs.[ permanent dead link ]
  68. ↑ "Endorsements". League of Conservation Voters.
  69. ↑ "Candidates We Endorse and Support". NCPSSM.
  70. ↑ "U.S. Senate – Education Votes". educationvotes.nea.org.
  71. ↑ "NRDC Action Fund Endorses 11 House, Senate Candidates". nrdcactionfund.org. June 15, 2020.
  72. ↑ "IFPTE Releases Its 2020 Congressional Endorsements". ifpte.org. International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. July 6, 2020. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  73. ↑ "2020 Illinois Election Center". seiuhcilin.org. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  74. ↑ "Illinois – Official UAW Endorsements". uawendorsements.org. United Automobile Workers.
  75. ↑ "Letter To The Editor: Log Cabin Republicans Endorse Mark Curran For U.S. Senate". RiverBender. AdVantage News. September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  76. ↑ "Endorsements". Tazewell County Republican Party. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  77. 1 2 3 "Alderman Sposato, Napolitano, Taliaferro endorse Willie Wilson for U.S. Senate". October 2, 2020. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  78. ↑ Dudek, Mitch (September 16, 2020). "Willie Wilson embraces endorsement of police union that's clashed with Black Lives Matter". Chicago Sun-Times.
  79. ↑ Research Co.
  80. ↑ Victory Research
  81. 1 2 Ogden & Fry/Citizens for Willie Wilson
  82. ↑ "Election Results 2020 GENERAL ELECTION". Illinois State Board of Elections. December 4, 2020. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  83. ↑ "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

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