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| Turnout | 63.79% | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 County results Durbin: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Salvi: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1996 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 5, 1996. IncumbentDemocraticU.S. SenatorPaul Simon chose to retire, rather than seek a third term in office. In theDemocratic primary,U.S. RepresentativeDick Durbin emerged victorious, whilestate representativeAl Salvi won theRepublican primary. Though the election was initially anticipated to be close, Durbin ended up defeating Salvi by a comfortable double-digit margin of victory, allowing him to win what would be the first of five terms in the Senate.
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal offices (president andHouse), as well as those forstate offices.
For the primaries, turnout was 25.85%, with 1,583,406 votes cast.[1] For the general election, turnout was 63.79%, with 4,250,722 votes cast.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dick Durbin | 512,520 | 64.87% | |
| Democratic | Pat Quinn | 233,138 | 29.51% | |
| Democratic | Ronald F. Gibbs | 17,681 | 2.24% | |
| Democratic | Jalil Ahmad | 17,211 | 2.18% | |
| Democratic | Paul H. D. Park | 9,505 | 1.20% | |
| Total votes | 790,055 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Al Salvi | 377,141 | 47.64% | |
| Republican | Bob Kustra | 342,935 | 43.32% | |
| Republican | Robert Marshall | 43,937 | 5.55% | |
| Republican | Martin Paul Gallagher | 17,276 | 2.18% | |
| Republican | Wayne S. Kurzeja | 10,356 | 1.31% | |
| Total votes | 791,645 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | Robin J. Miller | 1,258 | 73.74 | |
| Libertarian | David F. Hoscheidt | 448 | 26.26 | |
| Total votes | 1,706 | 100 | ||
Durbin won the election easily.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dick Durbin | 2,384,028 | 56.09% | −8.98% | |
| Republican | Al Salvi | 1,728,824 | 40.67% | +5.74% | |
| Reform | Steven H. Perry | 61,023 | 1.44% | ||
| Libertarian | Robin J. Miller | 41,218 | 0.97% | ||
| Constitution | Chad N. Koppie | 17,563 | 0.40% | ||
| Natural Law | James E. Davis | 13,838 | 0.33% | ||
| Write-ins | 4,228 | 0.10% | |||
| Majority | 655,204 | 15.41% | −14.72% | ||
| Turnout | 4,250,722 | 63.79 | |||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
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