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| Turnout | 50.05% 0.33pp | |||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Blagojevich: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Ryan: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The2002 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governorGeorge Ryan, who was plagued by scandal, did not run for a second term. DemocratRod Blagojevich, a U.S. Congressman, ran against RepublicanJim Ryan (no relation to the incumbent), theIllinois Attorney General. Blagojevich won 52% to 45%, becoming the first Democrat to win an election for governor since1972.
As of 2023, this is the last Illinois governor election where no candidate running was an incumbent.
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (Senate andHouse), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the2002 Illinois elections.
For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 30.81%, with 2,170,344 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 26.99% with 1,908,564 votes cast.[1][2] For the general election, turnout was 50.05%, with 3,538,891 votes cast.[1][2]
The Democratic primary was a very close 3-way race. Blagojevich prevailed by just 25,469 votes, and just by 2.03%. Vallas did very well in theChicago suburbs, and narrowly defeated Burris inCook County, the most populous county in the state. Vallas led early on in the night with Burris in second and Blagojevich in third. Vallas had won probably the most vital county, Cook County. For Blagojevich to beat both opponents, he had to run the board through the rest ofIllinois. Blagojevich won almost all of the state's rural counties. Eventually, Cook County had reported all of its votes, with a slight advantage for Vallas over Burris. However many votes were still left to be counted in other cities outside the Chicago area. Blagojevich managed to pull out a narrow victory by winning inChampaign County, home of Champaign. Blagojevich also did well inSangamon County home to the state's capital, Springfield. Blagojevich also wonSt. Clair County home ofEast St. Louis. In the early morning the day after the election, Vallas realized that with all of Cook County's votes counted he had lost. At 4:18 in the morning, Vallas called Blagojevich and congratulated him, and pledged Blagojevich his full support for the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rod Blagojevich | 457,197 | 36.50 | |
| Democratic | Paul Vallas | 431,728 | 34.47 | |
| Democratic | Roland Burris | 363,591 | 29.03 | |
| Total votes | 1,252,516 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Pat Quinn | 471,038 | 42.11 | |
| Democratic | Joyce W. Washington | 362,902 | 32.35 | |
| Democratic | F. Michael Kelleher, Jr. | 284,549 | 25.44 | |
| Total votes | 1,118,489 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Ryan | 410,074 | 44.68 | |
| Republican | Patrick O'Malley | 260,860 | 28.42 | |
| Republican | Corinne Wood | 246,825 | 26.89 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 69 | 0.01 | |
| Total votes | 917,828 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Carl Hawkinson | 373,040 | 47.22 | |
| Republican | William A. O'Connor | 257,375 | 32.58 | |
| Republican | Jack J. McInerney | 90,571 | 11.46 | |
| Republican | Charles G. Owens | 69,089 | 8.74 | |
| Total votes | 790,075 | 100.00 | ||
In March 2002, theLibertarian Party of Illinois nominatedCal Skinner. Skinner had formerly served as a Republican state representative, and was a political conservative.[4]
In thegeneral election, Blagojevich defeatedRepublicanIllinois Attorney GeneralJim Ryan by a solid margin. Ethics scandals had plagued the administration of incumbent RepublicanGeorge Ryan, who was of no relation to Jim Ryan, and Blagojevich's campaign focused on the theme of "ending business as usual" in state government. During the campaign, Blagojevich played on the name of his opponent by asking "How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change? You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich."[5]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[6] | Lean D(flip) | October 31, 2002 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Likely D(flip) | November 4, 2002 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Rod Blagojevich (D) | Jim Ryan (R) | Cal Skinner (L) | Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[8] | October 28–30, 2002 | 535 (LV) | ± 4.3% | 53% | 39% | 4% | 4% |
Although the election was thought to be a close one early on in the campaign, Blagojevich's big numbers out ofCook County were too much for theRepublicans to come back from.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rod Blagojevich | 1,847,040 | 52.19% | +4.73% | |
| Republican | Jim Ryan | 1,594,961 | 45.07% | −5.96% | |
| Libertarian | Cal Skinner | 73,794 | 2.09% | N/A | |
| Independent | Marisellis Brown | 23,089 | 0.65% | N/A | |
| Write-in | Peter Dale Kauss | 8 | 0.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 3,538,891 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
