1968 Illinois elections

← 1966 November 5, 1968 1969 →
Turnout	82.91%

Elections in Illinois
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Ballot measures and referendums State capitol referendum (1834) Illinois Banking Amendment (1938) Illinois Banking Law Amendment (1940) Illinois Revenue Amendment (1942) 1950 Illinois gateway amendment 1954 Illinois legislative apportionment amendment Illinois Restrict Governor's Amendatory Veto Power Amendment Cutback Amendment (1980) Illinois Bail Amendment (1982) Illinois Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment (1984) Illinois Redemption Periods for Property Sold for Non-Payment of Taxes Amendment Crime Victim Rights Amendment (1992) Illinois Courts Commission Amendment 2008 Illinois referendum on proposed call for a constitutional convention Illinois Governor Recall Amendment (2010) Public Pension Amendment (2012) Marsy's Law (2014) Right to Vote Amendment (2014) Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment (2016) Fair Tax (2020) Separation referendums in Illinois Right to Collective Bargaining Amendment (2022)
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Cook County County elections 1946 1980 State's Attorney 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 State's Attorney 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 State's Attorney 2022 2024
Will County County Executive elections 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
v t e

Elections were held inIllinois on Tuesday, November 5, 1968.^[1]

Primaries were held on June 11, 1968.^[1]

In the primary, turnout was 28.84% with 1,573,173 ballots cast (833,498 Democrat and 739,675 Republican).^[1][2][3]

In the general election, turnout was 82.91% with 4,705,852 ballots cast.^[1]

Illinois voted for the Republicanticket ofRichard Nixon andSpiro Agnew.^[1]

Incumbent SenatorEverett M. Dirksen, a Republican, won reelection to a fourth term.

All 24 Illinois seats in theUnited States House of Representatives were up for election in 1968.

No seats switched parties, leaving the Illinois House delegation to continue to consist of 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

1968 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 1964 November 5, 1968 1972 →
Turnout	79.39%[1]
Nominee Richard B. Ogilvie Samuel Shapiro Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,307,295 2,179,501 Percentage 51.2% 48.4%
County Results Ogilvie:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Shapiro:     40–50%     50–60%
Governor before election Samuel Shapiro Democratic Elected Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Republican

Incumbent DemocraticGovernorSamuel Shapiro lost reelection to RepublicanRichard B. Ogilvie.

1968 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 1964 November 5, 1968 1972 →
Turnout	76.96%[1]
Nominee Paul Simon Robert A. Dwyer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,222,331 2,125,910 Percentage 50.87% 48.67%
County results Simon:     50–60%     60–70% Dwyer:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Lieutenant Governor before election Vacant Elected Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon Democratic

DemocratPaul Simon was elected to serve aslieutenant governor.

This was the only time in Illinois history that the state had the elected a governor and a lieutenant governor from different political parties (there were, however, instances in Illinois where anappointed lieutenant governor had been of a different political party than the governor).

Due to changes implemented by the passage of the 1970Constitution of Illinois, in all subsequent elections, gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates have been jointly elected on aticket. Therefore, this was the last Illinois election held for the sole purpose of electing a lieutenant governor.

Robert A. Dwyer, an insurance executive fromWinnetka ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.^[4]

1968 Illinois Attorney General election

← 1964 November 5, 1968 1972 →
Turnout	79.79%[1]
Nominee William J. Scott Francis S. Lorenz Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,898,198 2,322,572 Percentage 52.71% 46.89%
County results Scott:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Lorenz:     50–60% Tie:     40–50%
Attorney General before election William G. Clark Democratic Elected Attorney General William J. Scott Republican

Incumbentattorney generalWilliam G. Clark, a Democrat, did not seek a third term. RepublicanWilliam J. Scott was elected to succeed him.

1968 Illinois Secretary of State election

← 1964 November 5, 1968 1972 →
Turnout	78.81%[1]
Nominee Paul Powell Donald D. Carpentier Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,278,868 2,173,839 Percentage 50.94% 48.59%
County results Powell:     50–60%     60–70% Carpentier:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Secretary of State before election Paul Powell Democratic Elected Secretary of State Paul Powell Democratic

IncumbentSecretary of StatePaul Powell, a Democrat, was reelected to a second term.

1968 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election

← 1964 November 3, 1968 1972 (Comptroller) →
Turnout	76.54%[1]
Nominee Michael Howlett William C. Harris Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,215,401 2,106,676 Percentage 50.99% 48.49%
Auditor of Public Accounts before election Michael Howlett Democratic Elected Auditor of Public Accounts Michael Howlett Democratic

IncumbentAuditor of Public AccountsMichael Howlett, a Democrat, was reelected to a third term.

1968 Clerk of the Supreme Court election

← 1962 November 5, 1968
Turnout	76.46%[1]
Nominee Justin Taft Fannie G. Jones Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,286,086 2,032,768 Percentage 52.68% 46.84%
Clerk before election Cleli Woods Elected Clerk Justin Taft Republican

The Clerk of theSupreme Court was Cleli Woods, who took office after the death in office ofFae Searcy earlier in 1968.

The 1970Constitution of Illinois made it so that the office would become an appointive office by 1975, thus rendering the 1968 election the last instance in which an election was held for this office.

Incumbent Clerk of the Supreme CourtFae Searcy died in office on March 25, 1968. However, she had already filed to be on the ballot before her death.^[5] Instead of being listed by her own name,Fae Searcy opted to be listed on the ballot as "Mrs.Earle Benjamin Searcy",^[1][2] her legal name. She had succeeded her husband in the office after his own death. Mrs. Searcy remained on the ballot, and received 32 percent of the vote despite being dead. However,Justin Taft outperformed her, with 45.01 percent of the vote, winning the nomination.

Seats of theIllinois Senate were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Seats in theIllinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

An election usingcumulative voting was held for three of nine seats for Trustees ofUniversity of Illinois system.

The election saw the reelection of incumbent third-term Republican Timothy W. Swain and incumbent second-term Republican member Earl M. Hughes and the election of new Republican member Russell W. "Ruck" Steger.^[1][6]

Incumbent Democrat Kenney E. Williamson (appointed in 1967 after the death in office ofWayne A. Johnston) lost reelection.^[1][6]

Judicial elections were held, including two elections to fill vacancies on theIllinois Appellate Court.^[1]

Three ballot measures were up for election in 1968, alegislatively referred state statute, abond measure, and a call for aconstitutional convention.^[1]

In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute.^[1] Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.^[1] A call for a constitutional convention required votes equal to a majority of the all ballots cast in the general election.^[1]

Illinois Banking Act was approved by voters as a legislatively referred state statue.^[1] It enabled Illinois state banks to have foreign branches.^[7]

Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act, a legislatively referred bond question, failed to pass.^[1][8] It proposed a $1 billion bond act for the development of natural resources.^[8]

Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.^[1] In this election, the highest turnout for a chamber's elections was 4,268,956, so the needed vote total for the measure to have pass would have been 2,134,479.^[1]

In 1968, voters were presented with a referendum on whether to call aconstitutional convention.^[9][10] This was the first such vote held in the State of Illinois since 1934.^[10] That call failed. The chief sponsor of the legislation that created this ballot measure was Senate Republican leaderW. Russell Arrington.^[11] Democratic GovernorOtto Kerner Jr. was supportive of holding a constitutional convention.^[11]

The call for the convention required the votes of an equal majority of all ballots cast in the 1968 general elections.^[1]

A constitutional convention was subsequently held, and the resultingConstitution of Illinois was approved by Illinois voters ina 1970 special election.^[10]

Local elections were held.

• 1968 Illinois elections
• 1968 elections in the United States by state

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from September 2023