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1982 Illinois elections

← 1980 November 2, 1982 1984 →
Turnout	64.65%

Elections in Illinois
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v t e

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1982.

Primaries were held on March 16.

Election information

1982 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Amid the ongoing recession and resultant unpopularity of incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan, Democrats made significant gains in the national elections for the United States House of Representatives and in the gubernatorial elections. In Illinois, Democrats made gains in the House of Representatives elections. Democrats also managed to flip control of the office of Illinois Attorney General. While the election was incredibly close, Republican James R. Thompson managed to retain his governorship.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 27.38%, with a total of 1,622,410 ballots cast. 949,426 Democratic and 672,984 Republican primary ballots were cast.

Turnout during the general election was 64.65%, with 3,856,875 ballots cast.

Convictions for fraud

There were "62 indictments and 58 convictions, many involving precinct captains and election officials. The grand jury concluded that 100,000 fraudulent votes had been cast in the city ... Authorities found massive fraud involving vote buying and ballots cast by others in the names of registered voters. In one case, a ballot punched for the Democratic slate had been tabulated 198 times." The case was prosecuted in November 1982 by US Attorney Dan K. Webb.

The gubernatorial election result has been questioned. Some Democrats have alleged that fraud might have been committed by Republicans in areas outside Chicago to secure Thompson his victory. In 2016, Rudy Giuliani suggested that the gubernatorial results had been fraudulent on the part of Chicago Democrats.

In January 1983, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a petition by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Adlai Stevenson III for a full statewide recount, with the majority opinion finding there to be insufficient evidence of either mistakes, fraud, or irregularities to warrant a recount

Federal elections

United States House

Illinois had lost two congressional districts (the 23rd and 24th) in reapportionment following the 1980 United States census. All 22 of Illinois' remaining seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1982

Before the election, there were 14 Republican and 10 Democratic seats. In 1982, 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans were elected from Illinois.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

1982 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 1978 November 2, 1982 1986 →
Turnout	61.58%
Nominee James R. Thompson Adlai Stevenson III Party Republican Democratic Running mate George Ryan Grace Mary Stern Popular vote 1,816,101 1,811,027 Percentage 49.4% 49.3%
County Results Thompson:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Stevenson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election James R. Thompson Republican Elected Governor James R. Thompson Republican

Incumbent Governor James R. Thompson, a Republican, narrowly won reelection to a third term, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson III by merely 5,074 votes. George Ryan joined Thompson on the Republican ticket, and won a first term as Lieutenant Governor.

The election was surprisingly close, as, before the election, Thompson had been favored by polls and predictions to win by roughly twenty percentage points.

Attorney General

1982 Illinois Attorney General election

← 1978 November 2, 1982 1986 →
Turnout	60.96%
Nominee Neil Hartigan Ty Fahner Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,064,196 1,519,507 Percentage 56.76% 41.78%
Attorney General before election Tyrone C. Fahner Republican Elected Attorney General Neil Hartigan Democratic

Incumbent Attorney General Tyrone C. Fahner, a Republican appointed in 1980, lost reelection to Democrat Neil Hartigan.

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Secretary of State

1982 Illinois Secretary of State election

← 1978 November 2, 1986 1986 →
Turnout	61.87%
Nominee Jim Edgar Jerome Cosentino Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,942,664 1,709,008 Percentage 52.64% 46.31%
Secretary of State before election Jim Edgar Republican Elected Secretary of State Jim Edgar Republican

Incumbent Secretary of State Jim Edgar, a Republican first appointed in 1981, was elected to a full term.

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Comptroller

1982 Illinois State Comptroller election

← 1978 November 2, 1982 1986 →
Turnout	60.56%
Nominee Roland Burris Calvin Skinner Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,696,414 1,440,747 Percentage 54.07% 45.93%
State Comptroller before election Roland Burris Democratic Elected State Comptroller Roland Burris Democratic

Incumbent Comptroller Roland Burris, a Democrat, won reelection to a second term.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Roland Burris won renomination unopposed.

Republican primary

Former State Representative Calvin Skinner won the Republican primary unopposed.

General election

Treasurer

1982 Illinois State Treasurer election

← 1978 November 2, 1982 1986 →
Turnout	60.47%
Nominee James Donnewald John P. Dailey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,940,828 1,573,496 Percentage 53.81% 43.62%
Treasurer before election Jerome Cosentino Democratic Elected Treasurer James Donnewald Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer Jerome Cosentino, a Democrat, did not run for a second term, instead opting to run for Secretary of State. Democrat James Donnewald was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

State Senate

As this was the first election after a redistricting, all of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1982. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1982. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.

The election saw the reelection incumbents William D. Forsyth Jr. and George W. Howard, III and the election of new trustee Albert N. Logan Jr.

Incumbent second-term Democrat Earl L. Langdon was not renominated.

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1982.

Ballot measure

Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1982. In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.

Bail Amendment

Voters approved the Bail Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1"), a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Illinois to expand the population that could be denied bail to include those who committed an offense that could result in a life imprisonment sentence.

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 16, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
2. "How High the Wave? Don't Just Think 1994; Think 1974, 1958, 1982 | News & Analysis | Inside Elections". insideelections.com. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. October 26, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
3. "Media definitions of a wave election". Ballotpedia.
4. "Was it a wave election? Depends on your data set". NBC News. November 25, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
5. ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
6. "Despite Trump claim, officials say technology means vote fraud thing of past". Chicago Tribune. October 19, 2016.
7. ^ "Election fraud Chicago style: Illinois' decades-old notoriety for election corruption is legendary". Salon. February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
8. "Report of the Special January 1982 Grand Jury" (PDF). United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. December 14, 1984.
9. "WEBB ASKS PRIMARY VOTE FRAUD PROBE". Chicago Tribune. March 11, 1987. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
10. "Official: Chicago legacy of voter fraud has been cleaned up". HeraldNet.com. October 19, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
11. "DEMOCRATS GIVE UP ILLINOIS CAMPAIGN". The New York Times. January 8, 1983. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
12. ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
13. "Stevenson Looking Forward to a Recount in Illinois". The New York Times. November 21, 1982. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
14. ^ "Illinois Blue Book 1985-1986". www.idaillinois.org. Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
15. ^ "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
16. ^ "Illinois Constitution – Amendments Proposed". www.ilga.gov. Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
17. ^ "Illinois Bail Amendment (1982)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

• 1982 Illinois elections
• 1982 elections in the United States by state
• Electoral fraud in the United States