2006 Illinois gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:2006 Illinois gubernatorial election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2002 Illinois gubernatorial election
Previous Year:2002
Next Election:2010 Illinois gubernatorial election
Next Year:2010
Election Date:November 7, 2006
Image1:File:Rod Blagojevich (4125975741) (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Rod Blagojevich
Running Mate1:Pat Quinn
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,736,731
Percentage1:49.79%
Running Mate2:Joe Birkett
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,369,315
Percentage2:39.26%
Image3:File:Rich Whitney (cropped).jpg
Nominee3:Rich Whitney
Running Mate3:Julie Samuels
Party3:Green Party of the United States
Popular Vote3:361,336
Percentage3:10.36%
Map Size:300px
Governor
Before Election:Rod Blagojevich
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Rod Blagojevich
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)
Turnout:47.29% 2.76 pp

The 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich won re-election to a second four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich did not complete his term, as he was impeached and removed from office in 2009. This was the first election since 1964 that a Democrat was re-elected governor.

Many observers expected the race to be close, especially considering the polling,[1] which had shown Governor Blagojevich to have a high disapproval rating. However, the Republicans had fared poorly due to scandals involving prior Governor George Ryan, and the increasingly unpopular presidency of George W. Bush. Exit polls showed Topinka won white voters (46%-41%-13%), while Blagojevich performed well among African Americans (80%-16%-2%) and Latinos (83%-12%-4%). Democrats won Will County for the first time since 1964, and Lake County for the first time since 1960.

This was the second and last time in Illinois that a woman was a major party's nominee for Governor, the other being 1994. This was also the last time a male lieutenant governor was on the winning ticket.

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for Congress and those for other state offices. The election was part of the 2006 Illinois elections.

Turnout

For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 23.13%, with 1,680,207 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 20.60% with 1,496,453 votes cast.[2] [3] For the general election, turnout was 47.29%, with 3,487,989 votes cast.[2] [3]

Democratic primaries

Governor

Candidates

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

Republican primaries

Governor

Candidates

Declined

Campaign

On November 7, 2005, Topinka announced that she would not seek re-election as state treasurer - instead, she entered the gubernatorial primary, hoping to challenge Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Republican primary was deeply divisive; her tenure as Party Chairman destroyed her support from the conservative wing of her party, and it was feared that her pro-choice and positive gay rights positions would be detrimental to her standing with the same conservatives. In December she announced that she would join forces with DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

In February 2006, the candidates for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor began running their first TV ads for the March statewide primary election. Rival candidate Ron Gidwitz's advertisements, attacking Topinka, were rebuked in the same week by the Illinois Republican Party: "In an unprecedented action, the Illinois Republican Party has officially rebuked the Gidwitz campaign for this ad because the Party found that the ad violates the Party's "Code of Conduct", which was enacted to police proper conduct among Republican candidates."

Later in February, candidate Jim Oberweis, another rival for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination, started a series of attack ads for television markets, against Topinka, that were even more widely criticized, mostly for using "fake" headlines on the images of actual Illinois newspapers. These ads, like Gidwitz's ads, also came under review by the Illinois Republican Party. Because of the controversy generated, several television stations withdrew Oberweis's ads.

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

On ballot

Write-ins

The following candidates were write-in candidates.[6]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
align=left The Cook Political Report[7] November 6, 2006
align=left Sabato's Crystal Ball[8] November 6, 2006
align=left Rothenberg Political Report[9] November 2, 2006
align=left Real Clear Politics[10] November 6, 2006

Polling

SourceDateRod
Judy Baar
Topinka (R)
Rich
Whitney (G)
Other
align=left Survey USANovember 2, 200645%37%14%4%
align=left Survey USAOctober 23, 200644%34%14%8%
align=left RasmussenOctober 19, 200644%36%9%11%
align=left Zogby/WSJOctober 16, 200647.1%33.2%11.3%8.4%
align=left Glengariff GroupOctober 15, 200639%30%9%22%
align=left Tribune/WGN-TVOctober 11, 200643%29%9%19%
align=left Survey USASeptember 20, 200645%39%7%9%
align=left RasmussenSeptember 13, 200648%36%16%
align=left Sun-Times/NBC5September 12, 200656%26%3%15%
align=left Tribune/WGN-TVSeptember 11, 200645%33%6%16%
align=left Zogby/WSJSeptember 11, 200646.5%33.6%19.9%
align=left Research 2000August 31, 200647%39%2%12%
align=left Zogby/WSJAugust 28, 200644.8%37.6%17.6%
align=left RasmussenAugust 10, 200645%37%18%
align=left Survey USAJuly 25, 200645%34%21%
align=left Zogby/WSJJuly 24, 200644.4%36.4%19.2%
align=left RasmussenJuly 13, 200645%34%21%
align=left Zogby/WSJJune 21, 200641.1%37.5%21.4%
align=left Glengariff Group June 1–3, 200641%34%25%
align=left Survey USAMay 23, 200643%37%20%
align=left RasmussenApril 24, 200638%44%18%
align=left RasmussenMarch 31, 200641%43%16%
align=left RasmussenFebruary 25, 200642%36%22%
align=left RasmussenFebruary 7, 200637%48%15%
align=left Research 2000January 22, 200645%37%18%

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Aftermath

The Green Party became an established political party statewide, according to Illinois state election law, when Rich Whitney received more than 5% of the total vote for governor. The new status provided the party with several new advantages, such as lower signature requirements for ballot access, primary elections, free access to additional voter data, the ability to elect precinct committeemen, run a partial slate of candidates at any jurisdictional level, and slate candidates without petitioning. The only other statewide established political parties were the Democratic and Republican Parties. It is rare for a new political party to become established statewide in Illinois, the last to do so being the Solidarity Party in 1986 and the Progressive Party before that.

See also

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SurveyUSA News Poll #8260 . Surveyusa.com . 2015-03-30.
  2. Web site: Voter Turnout . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 24 March 2020 . 30 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210530142655/https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/VoterTurnout.aspx . dead .
  3. Web site: Election Results . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 23 March 2020 . 22 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200222093629/https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/ElectionVoteTotals.aspx . dead .
  4. Web site: Jim Edgar says no to run for Illinois Governor . 30 September 2005 .
  5. Web site: Prosecutor removes office from case . chicagotribune.com . Chicago Tribune . 24 March 2020 . 21 January 2006.
  6. Book: Official Vote Cast at the General Election November 7, 2006. November 7, 2006. Illinois State Board of Elections. September 26, 2023.
  7. Web site: 2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006. The Cook Political Report. October 1, 2006. June 5, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080605094803/https://cookpolitical.com/races/report_pdfs/2006_gov_ratings_nov6.pdf. dead.
  8. Web site: Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS . Sabato's Crystal Ball . 6 November 2006 . June 25, 2021.
  9. Web site: 2006 Gubernatorial Ratings . Senate Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . June 25, 2021.
  10. Web site: Election 2006 . Real Clear Politics . June 25, 2021.