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| Turnout | 57.55% | |||
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Elections were held inIllinois on Tuesday, November 7, 1978.[1]
Primaries were held on March 21, 1978.[2]
This was the first election that the 1970Constitution of Illinois' change took effect that all statewide executive offices would be elected in nationalmidterm years.
1978 was amidterm election year in the United States.
This was the first election that the 1970Constitution of Illinois' change took effect that all statewide executive offices would be elected in nationalmidterm years.[3] To accommodate this, in 1976, all statewide executive offices that were up for election were elected to two-year terms that would expire following the 1978 elections.
Turnout in the primary election was 25.14%, with a total of 1,482,034 ballots cast. 911,290 Democratic and 570,744 Republican primary ballots were cast.[2]
Turnout during the general election was 57.55%, with 3,342,985 ballots cast.[1]
Incumbent RepublicanCharles H. Percy was reelected to a third term.
All 24 Illinois seats in theUnited States House of Representatives were up for election in 1978. The Republican Party flipped one seat, leaving the composition of Illinois' House delegation to consist of 13 Republicans and 11 democrats.
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| Turnout | 54.23%[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results Thompson: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Bakalis: 40–50% 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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IncumbentGovernorJames R. Thompson andLieutenant GovernorDavid C. O'Neal, Republicans, jointly won reelection to a second term.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | James Thompson /Dave O'Neal (incumbents) | 1,859,684 | 59.04 | |
| Democratic | Michael Bakalis /Dick Durbin | 1,263,134 | 40.10 | |
| Libertarian | Georgia Shields | 11,420 | 0.36 | |
| Socialist Workers | Cecil Lampkin | 11,026 | 0.35 | |
| U.S. Labor | Melvin Klenetsky | 4,737 | 0.15 | |
| Write-in | Others | 106 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 3,150,107 | |||
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| Turnout | 52.85%[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Scott: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Troy: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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IncumbentAttorney GeneralWilliam J. Scott, a Republican, was elected to a fourth term.
Richard J. Troy, a Commissioner of theMetropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago,[5] won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Richard J. Troy | 538,632 | 100 | |
| Write-in | Others | 24 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 538,656 | 100 | ||
Incumbent William J. Scott won the Republican primary, running unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | William J. Scott (incumbent) | 444,505 | 100 | |
| Write-in | Others | 35 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 444,540 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | William J. Scott (incumbent) | 1,989,758 | 64.81 | |
| Democratic | Richard J. Troy | 1,050,085 | 34.20 | |
| Socialist Workers | Guy C. Miller | 13,366 | 0.44 | |
| Libertarian | Sheldon Waxman | 11,917 | 0.39 | |
| U.S. Labor | Richard D. Leebove | 4,874 | 0.16 | |
| Write-in | Others | 31 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 3,070,031 | 100 | ||
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| Turnout | 53.98%[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Dixon: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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IncumbentSecretary of StateAlan J. Dixon, a Democrat, was reelected to a second term.
Dixon's margin-of victory was considered to be alandslide.[6]
Incumbent Alan J. Dixon won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan J. Dixon (incumbent) | 602,852 | 100 | |
| Write-in | Others | 9 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 602,861 | 100 | ||
Sharon Sharp, the Clerk ofElk Grove Township, was nominated in the Republican primary without opposition.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sharon Sharp | 415,789 | 100 | |
| Write-in | Others | 9 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 415,799 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan J. Dixon (incumbent) | 2,314,546 | 73.82 | |
| Republican | Sharon Sharp | 797,560 | 25.44 | |
| Socialist Workers | Marie Cobbs | 10,247 | 0.33 | |
| Libertarian | Ed May | 9,104 | 0.29 | |
| U.S. Labor | Edward Waffle | 4,058 | 0.13 | |
| Write-in | Others | 12 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 3,135,527 | 100 | ||
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| Turnout | 51.40% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Burris: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Castle: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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IncumbentComptrollerMichael Bakalis, a Democrat, did not seek a second term, instead opting to run for governor. DemocratRoland Burris was elected to succeed him. In winning the election, Burris became the firstAmerican American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois.[7]
With more than 64% of the vote,Roland Burris defeated State RepresentativeRichard Luft in the Democratic primary.[1][8]
Burris was a Chicago attorney that had formerly served as director of the Department of General Services under GovernorDan Walker.[8] Luft had been the early favorite for the party toslate, but at the last minute was beaten out by Burris when the party finally slated candidates.[8] It was reported that black Chicago Democrats had pressured the party to slate a black candidate for statewide office.[8]
During the campaign, Burris and Luft argued over Burris' record as director of the Department of General Services.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roland W. Burris | 418,735 | 64.03 | |
| Democratic | Richard N. Luft | 235,192 | 35.97 | |
| Total votes | 653,927 | 100 | ||
With more than 52% of the vote, John W. Castle, director of the Department of Local Government Affairs, defeatedW. Robert Blair, formerSpeaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, in the Republican primary.[1][8] Governor James R. Thompson, who had convinced Castle to abandon his declared plans to run for treasurer and instead run for comptroller, publicly endorsed Castle.[8] Blair criticized Castle for this endorsement, alleging that he would not be able to operate the comptroller's office independently of the governor, while Castle denied that his decisions would be influenced by his political ties to Thompson.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John W. Castle | 238,086 | 52.02 | |
| Republican | W. Robert Blair | 219,570 | 47.98 | |
| Write-in | Others | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 457,656 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roland W. Burris | 1,542,983 | 51.67 | |
| Republican | John W. Castle | 1,389,049 | 46.52 | |
| Libertarian | Mark B. Wallace | 21,645 | 0.72 | |
| Socialist Workers | John Eriksen | 17,116 | 0.57 | |
| U.S. Labor | Carol Leebove | 15,181 | 0.51 | |
| Write-in | Others | 14 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 2,985,988 | 100 | ||
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| Turnout | 51.32%[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Cosentino: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Skelton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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IncumbentTreasurer wasDonald R. Smith, a Republican who had been appointed in 1977, did not seek reelection. DemocratJerome Cosentino was elected to succeed him in office. This election made Cosentino the firstItalian-American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois.[9]
In the Democratic primary, the party establishment had slatedMetropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago commissionerJerome Cosentino as its preferred candidate.[8] He won the primary with 60% of the vote, defeating Nina T. Shepherd, a trustee of theUniversity of Illinois.[8] Shepherd received the endorsement of Independent Voter of Illinois in the primary.[8] She ran largely due to the failure of the party of slate a woman for any statewide office.[8] The primary was not overly heated.[8] One issue that haunted Cosentino was that his trucking firm was under investigation by theInterstate Commerce Commission for possible violations of theInterstate Commerce Act.[8] While the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, it was not completed until after the primary was over.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jerome A. Cosentino | 402,489 | 60.71 | |
| Democratic | Nina T. Shepherd | 260,512 | 39.29 | |
| Write-in | Others | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 663,002 | 100 | ||
James M. Skelton, the incumbent county treasurer ofChampaign County,[10] won a narrow 52% victory overBradley M. Glass in the Republican primary.[8] With Skelton being a downstate politician, and Glass being an upstate politician, the race had the dynamics of "downstate vs. upstate".[8] John W. Castle had originally announced that he would run for the Republican nomination for Treasurer, before being convinced by Governor James R. Thompson to instead run for comptroller.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | James M. Skelton | 236,802 | 52.82 | |
| Republican | Brad Glass | 211,591 | 47.19 | |
| Write-in | Others | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 448,394 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jerome A. "Jerry" Cosentino | 1,548,605 | 51.95 | |
| Republican | James M. Skelton | 1,383,966 | 46.42 | |
| Libertarian | Everett Moffat | 17,496 | 0.59 | |
| U.S. Labor | John H. Brown, Jr. | 15,682 | 0.53 | |
| Socialist Workers | Randi Lawrence | 15,411 | 0.52 | |
| Write-in | Others | 22 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 2,981,182 | 100 | ||
One-third of the seats of theIllinois Senate were up for election in 1982. Democrats retained control of the chamber.
All of the seats in theIllinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1978. Democrats retained control of the chamber.
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An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees ofUniversity of Illinois system.
The election saw the reelection incumbent second-term Republican Ralph Crane Hahn and the election of new members, Democrats Edmund Roche Donoghue and Paul Stone.[1][11]
Incumbent Republican Park Livingston and incumbent first-term Republican Jane Hayes Rader lost reelection.[1][11]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Paul Stone | 1,409,086 | 17.04 | |
| Democratic | Edmund R. Donoghue | 1,348,011 | 16.30 | |
| Republican | Ralph C. Hahn (incumbent) | 1,324,857 | 16.02 | |
| Democratic | Robert J. "Bob" Webb | 1,302,741 | 15.75 | |
| Republican | Jane Hayes Rader (incumbent) | 1,285,296 | 15.54 | |
| Republican | Park Livingston (incumbent) | 1,281,284 | 15.49 | |
| U.S. Labor | Suzanne Rose | 53,630 | 0.65 | |
| Socialist Workers | Jo-Ann Della-Guistina | 47,191 | 0.57 | |
| Libertarian | William Mitchell | 44,303 | 0.54 | |
| Libertarian | James McCawley | 37,298 | 0.45 | |
| Libertarian | John Adrian | 34,514 | 0.42 | |
| Socialist Workers | John Pottinger | 29,480 | 0.36 | |
| U.S. Labor | Mitchell F. Hirsch | 28,220 | 0.34 | |
| U.S. Labor | Maureen Ravenscroft | 25,424 | 0.31 | |
| Socialist Workers | Lee Kail | 20,071 | 0.24 | |
| Write-in | Others | 15 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | 8,271,421 | 100 | ||
Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1978.[1]
Illinois voters voted on a twolegislatively referred constitutional amendment ballot measures in 1978.[12] In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[12]
The Personal Property Tax Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1") was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Article IX, Section 5 of the Constitution of Illinois to eliminate the provision that required the legislature to abolish the personal property tax by January 1, 1979.[12][13] It failed to meet either threshold to amend the constitution.[12]
| Personal Property Tax Amendment[1][12][13] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Option | Votes | % of votes on measures | % of all ballots cast |
| Yes | 952,416 | 56.48 | 28.49 |
| No | 733,845 | 43.52 | 21.95 |
| Total votes | 1,686,261 | 100 | 50.44 |
| Voter turnout | 29.03% | ||
The Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment (also known as "Property Tax Exemption for Veterans' Organizations Amendment" and "Amendment 2") was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Article IX, Section 6 of the Constitution of Illinois to exempt veterans' associations from paying property taxes on their meeting halls.[12][14] It failed to meet either threshold to amend the constitution.[12]
| Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment[1][12][14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Option | Votes | % of votes on measures | % of all ballots cast |
| Yes | 747,907 | 48.11 | 22.37 |
| No | 806,579 | 51.89 | 24.13 |
| Total votes | 1,554,486 | 100 | 46.50 |
| Voter turnout | 26.76% | ||
Local elections were held.
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