Illinois gubernatorial election, 2002

Last updated
Illinois gubernatorial election, 2002
Flag of Illinois.svg
←  1998 November 5, 2002 2006  →

  Rod Blagojevich (2911120436) (cropped).jpg No image.svg
Nominee Rod Blagojevich Jim Ryan
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Pat Quinn Carl Hawkinson
Popular vote1,847,0401,594,961
Percentage52.2%45.1%
Illinois gubernatorial election, 2002.svg
County Results
Governor before election

George Ryan
Republican

Elected Governor

Rod Blagojevich
Democratic

The 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election pitted Congressman Rod Blagojevich against Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. Rod Blagojevich won 52% to 45%.

Rod Blagojevich former Governor of Illinois

Rod Blagojevich is an American former politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 until his impeachment, conviction, and removal from office in 2009.

James E. Ryan is an American lawyer and politician who served two four-year terms as Illinois Attorney General. A career Republican, he received his party's nomination and ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Illinois against Rod Blagojevich in 2002. He has been a professor at Benedictine University since 2003. He again ran for governor in 2010 and led incumbent Governor Pat Quinn in aggregate polling; but he failed to gain his party's nomination, coming in fourth in a field of seven candidates.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Roland Burris politician from the United States

Roland Wallace Burris is an American politician and attorney who is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Results

The Democratic primary was a very close 3-way race. Blagojevich prevailed by just 25,469 votes, and just by 2.03%. Vallas did very well in the Chicago suburbs, and narrowly defeated Burris in Cook County, the most populous county in the state. Vallas led early on in the night with Burris in second and Blagojevich in third. Vallas had won probably the most vital county, Cook County. For Blagojevich beat both opponents, he had to run the board through the rest of Illinois. Blagojevich won almost all of the state's rural counties. Eventually Cook County had reported all of its votes, with a slight advantage for Vallas over Burris. However many votes were still left to be counted in other cities outside the Chicago area. Blagojevich managed to pull out a narrow victory by winning in Champaign County, home of Champaign. Blagojevich also did well in Sangamon County home to the state's capital, Springfield. Blagojevich also won St. Clair County home of East St. Louis. In the early morning the day after the election, Vallas realized that with all of Cook Counties votes counted he had lost. At 4:18 in the morning Vallas called Blagojevich and congratulated him, and pledged Blagojevich his full support for the general election.

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, and the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States. The metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, and the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

Champaign County, Illinois County in the United States

Champaign County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 201,081, making it the 10th-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Urbana.

St. Clair County, Illinois County in the United States

St. Clair County is the oldest county in the U.S. state of Illinois; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 270,056, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most populous in the southern portion of the state. Its county seat is Belleville. The county was founded in 1790 by the government of the Northwest Territory, before the establishment of Illinois as a state. Cahokia Village in the county was founded in 1697 and was a French settlement and former Jesuit mission.

Democratic Primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Rod Blagojevich457,19736.50
Democratic Paul Vallas431,72834.47
Democratic Roland Burris363,59129.03
Total votes1,252,516100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Patrick O'Malley is a former Illinois State Senator, gubernatorial candidate and served as elected member of the board of trustees and Chairman of the Finance Committee for Moraine Valley Community College from 1989 to 1992.

Lieutenant Governor of Illinois

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.

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jim Ryan410,07444.68
Republican Patrick O'Malley260,86028.42
Republican Corrine Wood246,82526.89
Republican Write-ins690.01
Total votes917,828100.00

General election

Campaign

In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan by a solid margin. Ethics scandals had plagued the previous administration of Republican George Ryan, who had no relation to Jim, and Blagojevich's campaign focused on the theme of "ending business as usual" in state government. During the campaign, Blagojevich played on the name of his opponent by asking "How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change? You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich." [2]

A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

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.

Illinois Attorney General attorney general for the U.S. state of Illinois

The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by election through universal suffrage. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the Attorney General is responsible for providing legal counsel for the various state agencies including the Governor of Illinois and Illinois General Assembly, and conducting all legal affairs pertaining to the state.

Results

Although the election was thought to be a close one early on in the campaign, Blagojevich's big numbers out of Cook County were too much for the Republicans to come back from.

Illinois gubernatorial election, 2002 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic Rod Blagojevich/Pat Quinn 1,847,040 52.19% +4.73%
Republican Jim Ryan/Carl Hawkinson 1,594,96145.07%-5.96%
Libertarian Cal Skinner73,7942.09%
Independent Marisellis Brown23,0890.65%
Majority252,0807.12%+3.55%
Turnout 3,538,891
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

Related Research Articles

Judy Baar Topinka American politician

Judy Baar Topinka was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois.

Lisa Madigan American politician

Lisa Murray Madigan is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 to 2019, being the first woman to hold that position. She is also the stepdaughter of Michael Madigan, who has served as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1997.

2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

The Illinois gubernatorial election of 2006 occurred on November 7, 2006. The Governor of Illinois, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, won re-election for a four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich was impeached and convicted in 2009. Many observers expected the race to be close, especially considering the polling, which has shown Governor Blagojevich had a high disapproval rating. However, the Republicans had fared poorly in elections since 2002 due to scandals involving prior Governor George Ryan, and the increasingly unpopular presidency of George W. Bush.

Pat Quinn (politician) American politician: 41st Governor of Illinois

Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Governor of Illinois, from 2009 to 2015. A Democrat, Quinn began his career as an activist by founding the Coalition for Political Honesty. He is currently working on Take Charge Chicago, a petition for referendums to limit the Mayor of Chicago to two four-year terms and create an elected Consumer Advocate in the city.

Jesse White (politician) American politician

Jesse Clark White is an American athlete, educator and politician from the State of Illinois. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the 37th Secretary of State of Illinois since 1999. He is the longest-serving and the first African American to hold this position. Previously, he served as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds from 1993 to 1999 and in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 to 1993.

Paul Vallas American politician and school administrator

Paul Gust Vallas is an American politician and former superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, former CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Public Schools, and a former budget director for the city of Chicago. He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 2014 with then-incumbent Governor Pat Quinn, though the Democratic ticket was defeated by the Republican ticket, which included Bruce Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti.

James Brian Durkin is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 82nd District since 2006 when he was sworn in to replace Eileen Lyons after she retired mid-term. He was elected on November 8, 2006, defeating Democrat Kim Savage. Durkin previously represented the 44th District from January 1995 to January 2003. In August 2013, he was elected the Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Carl E. Hawkinson is a former state legislator, State's Attorney, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety in the State of Illinois.

Tom Cross (politician) American politician

Tom Cross is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 97th district where he served from 1993 to 2015. He served as House Minority Leader from January 2002 to August 2013, when he resigned to run for Illinois Treasurer.

The US state of Illinois is a Democratic stronghold and one of the "big three" Democratic states alongside California and New York. It is considered one of the most Democratic states in the nation and following the 2018 elections, all six statewide elected offices are held by a Democrat.

2008 Illinoiss 14th congressional district special election

After the resignation of Republican Party United States Congressman Dennis Hastert from his Illinois's 14th congressional district seat in the United States House of Representatives on November 26, 2007, a special election was held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 110th United States Congress.

2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois

The 2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois took place on November 2, 2010. There were two ballot items for the same seat: a general election, to fill the Class 3 seat beginning with the 112th United States Congress beginning on January 3, 2011, and a special election, to fill that seat for the final weeks of the 111th Congress, replacing the temporary appointment of Roland Burris to the vacancy created by Barack Obama's election to the presidency.

2009 Illinoiss 5th congressional district special election

A special election was held in Illinois's 5th congressional district in 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel. On April 7, Democratic nominee Michael Quigley defeated Republican nominee Rosanna Pulido and Green nominee Matt Reichel. Quigley was sworn in on April 21 and will serve out the current congressional term.

2010 Illinois gubernatorial election

The 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn sought and was elected to a full term in office. Quinn was elected as the Democratic nominee, the Illinois Green Party nominee was attorney and 2006 nominee Rich Whitney, the Republican nominee was State Senator Bill Brady, the Libertarian Party nominee was Lex Green, and Scott Lee Cohen ran as an independent. Governor Quinn won election to a full term in a very close race, beating Senator Brady by only about 32,000 votes, despite Brady winning in 98 of 102 Illinois counties.

Rod Blagojevich corruption charges

In December 2008, then-Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result, Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office, and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year. The jury found Blagojevich guilty of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. On June 27, 2011, after a retrial, Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges, not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges. On December 7, 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

1998 Illinois gubernatorial election

The 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election resulted in Republican Secretary of State George Ryan defeating Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard.

2014 Illinois elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Illinois on November 4, 2014. All of Illinois' executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Illinois' eighteen seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on March 18, 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ballots Cast". Elections.illinois.gov. 2002-03-19. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  2. ↑ Lin, Joanna (December 10, 2008). "He campaigned as a reformer". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ballots Cast". Elections.illinois.gov. 2002-11-05. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

See also

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.