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| Turnout | 74.84% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Braun: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Williamson: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent SenatorAlan J. Dixon decided to run for re-election a third term, but he was defeated in the Democratic primary byCarol Moseley Braun, who won the general election. Until2022, this was the last time the same party won Illinois's Class 3 Senate seat in two or more consecutive elections. Primary elections took place on March 17, 1992.[1]
Braun, whose victory coincided withBill Clinton's win inIllinois and theoverall presidential election, made history in this election by becoming the first African American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and also the first African American elected to the Senate as aDemocrat. Braun was also both the first African American and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois.
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (president andHouse), as well as those forstate offices.[1][2]
For the primaries, turnout was 35.20%, with 2,064,347 votes cast.[1] For the general election, turnout was 74.84%, with 4,939,557 votes cast.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Moseley Braun | 557,694 | 38.3% | |
| Democratic | Alan J. Dixon (incumbent) | 504,077 | 34.6% | |
| Democratic | Albert Hofeld | 394,497 | 27.1% | |
| Total votes | 1,456,268 | 100.0% | ||
This defeat shocked observers; at the time no senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. He was a moderate Democrat who recently voted to confirmClarence Thomas to theSupreme Court.[4] Braun, a black woman and known reformist liberal, got a large share of black, liberal, and women voters ("The Year of the Woman").
In addition, she carriedCook County, Illinois, by far the most populated county in the state. Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.
Richard S. Williamson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard S. Williamson | 608,079 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 608,079 | 100.00% | ||
Moseley Braun won the 1992 Illinois Senate Race by a fairly comfortable margin. Moseley Braun did well as expected inCook County home ofChicago. Williamson did well in the Chicago collar counties, and most northern parts of the state. Moseley Braun had a surprisingly strong showing in southern Illinois, which Republicans had come to dominate in the last several decades. Braun also did well inRock Island County.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Moseley Braun | 2,631,229 | 53.27 | ||
| Republican | Richard S. Williamson | 2,126,833 | 43.06 | ||
| Independent | Chad Koppie | 100,422 | 2.03 | ||
| Libertarian | Andrew B. Spiegel | 34,527 | 0.70 | ||
| Natural Law | Charles A. Winter | 15,118 | 0.31 | ||
| New Alliance | Alan J. Port | 12,689 | 0.26 | ||
| Socialist Workers | Kathleen Kaku | 10,056 | 0.20 | ||
| Populist | John Justice | 8,656 | 0.16 | ||
| Write-in | Don A. Togersen | 25 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | Walter A. Feiss | 1 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | Roe Conn | 1 | 0.00 | ||
| Turnout | 4,939,557 | 74.84 | |||
| Democratichold | Swing | ||||
Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said [...] 'History shows us that voters turned on Alan Dixon for his vote on Clarence Thomas and voters gave Arlen Specter the toughest reelection of his life.'
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