1986 Illinois elections

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1986.

1986 Illinois elections

November 4, 1986
Turnout	55.34%

Primaries were held March 18, 1986.[1]

Election information

1986 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Creation of the Illinois Solidarity Party

After LaRouche movement disciples won the Democratic primaries for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, Adlai Stevenson III created the Solidarity Party primarily to run Democratic candidates against them in the general election. He himself dropped off of the Democratic ticket for Governor, which he had won the primary for, and ran instead as the Solidarity Party candidate for Governor. The two Lyndon LaRouche-affiliated candidates, Mark J. Fairchild for Lieutenant Governor and Janice Hart for Secretary of State, had not seen their affiliations with LaRouche well-publicized until after they won their upset primary defeats over Stevenson-backed candidates George Sangmeister and Aurelia Pucinski.[2]

Illinois law required any unestablished party to run a full slate in order to obtain ballot access,[3] thus, Stevenson ran candidates in all races.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary was 26.23%, with 1,602,156 ballots cast. 1,014,908 Democratic and 570,661 Republican primary ballots were cast.[1]

Turnout in the general election was 55.34%, with 3,332,450 ballots cast.[4]

Straight-ticket voting

Illinois had a straight-ticket voting option in 1986.[4]

Party	Number of straight-ticket votes[4]
Democratic	107,788
Republican	465,469
Allin Walker	17
Illinois Solidarity	1,901
Libertarian	1,239
Quality Congressional Representation	421
Socialist Workers	358

Federal elections

United States Senate

Incumbent Democratic Senator Alan Dixon was reelected.

United States House

All Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1986.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

1986 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 4, 1986
Turnout	52.37%
Nominee James R. Thompson Adlai Stevenson III No candidate Party Republican Illinois Solidarity Democratic Running mate George Ryan Mike Howlett Mark Fairchild Popular vote 1,655,849 1,256,626 208,830 Percentage 52.7% 40.0% 6.6%
County Results: Thompson:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Stevenson:      40-50%      50-60%
Governor before election James R. Thompson Republican Elected Governor James R. Thompson Republican

Incumbent Governor James R. Thompson won reelection to a fourth term, defeating Adlai Stevenson III. This was a rematch of the previous 1982 gubernatorial election, which saw Stevenson as a Democratic nominee.

Stevenson, who had won the Democratic gubernatorial primary, withdrew from the Democratic ticket after Mark Fairchild, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Stevenson refused to run on a ticket with supporters of LaRouche's ideology. Stevenson instead created the Illinois Solidarity Party and ran as its nominee.

Gubernatorial election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James R. Thompson (incumbent) / George Ryan (incumbent)	1,655,849	52.67
	Illinois Solidarity	Adlai Stevenson III / Mike Howlett	1,256,626	39.97
	Democratic	No candidate / Mark Fairchild	208,830	6.64
	Libertarian	Gary L. Shilts/ Gerry Walsh	15,646	0.50
	Socialist Workers	Diane Roling/ Jim Little	6,843	0.22
	Write-in	Others	184	0.01
Total votes			3,143,978	100

Attorney General

1986 Illinois Attorney General election

November 4, 1986
Turnout	51.95%[4]
Nominee Neil Hartigan Bernard Carey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,925,012 1,129,193 Percentage 61.71% 36.20%
Attorney General before election Neil Hartigan Democratic Elected Attorney General Neil Hartigan Democratic

Incumbent Attorney General Neil Hartigan, a Democrat, was reelected to a second term.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Neil Hartigan defeated Chicago alderman Martin J. Oberman in the Democratic primary.

Hartigan had originally declared his intention to forgo seeking reelection, and instead run for governor, but he ultimately reversed course and sought reelection after Adlai Stevenson III entered the race for governor.[5][6]

Attorney General Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Neil F. Hartigan (incumbent)	531,801	61.67
	Democratic	Martin J. Oberman	330,561	38.33
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			862,363	100

Republican primary

Republican Village President of Arlington Heights James T. Ryan won the Republican primary, running unopposed.[1][7] Ryan stepped-down as nominee after allegations arose that he had committed domestic abuse against both his wife and ex-wife, which arose soon after he received his party's nomination.[7][8]

There had been originally been several other candidates running for the Republican nomination in the primary, but all withdrew soon after Democratic incumbent Hartigan announced that he would seek reelection.[5]

If he had been elected, Ryan would have been the first Republican sitting mayor elected to statewide office in Illinois since Edward C. Akin was elected Attorney General in 1898.[5]

After Ryan withdrew as the Republican nominee, he was replaced on the ballot by Bernard Carey, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners who had also formerly served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1972 through 1980.[6] Ryan's withdrawal had taken place five months before the general election.[6]

Attorney General Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James T. Ryan	434,917	100
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			434,921	100

General election

Attorney General election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Neil Hartigan (incumbent)	1,925,012	61.71
	Republican	Bernard Carey	1,129,193	36.20
	Illinois Solidarity	John Ray Keith	33,702	1.08
	Libertarian	Natalie Loder Clark	24,068	0.77
	Socialist Workers	Scott Dombeck	7,254	0.23
Total votes			3,119,229	100

Secretary of State

1986 Illinois Secretary of State election

November 4, 1986
Turnout	51.97[4]
Nominee Jim Edgar Jane N. Spirgel Janice A. Hart Party Republican Illinois Solidarity Democratic Popular vote 2,095,489 521,410 478,361 Percentage 67.16% 16.71% 15.33%
Secretary of State before election Jim Edgar Republican Elected Secretary of State Jim Edgar Republican

Incumbent Secretary of State Jim Edgar, a Republican first appointed in 1981 and subsequently elected to a full term in 1982, was reelected to a second full term.

Democratic primary

Little known candidate Janice Hart won an upset victory over Aurelia Pucinski (who had the backing of Adlai Stevenson III and others).[2] While, not well-reported until after the primary, Hart was a member of the LaRouche movement.[2]

Secretary of State Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janice A. Hart	375,405	51.17
	Democratic	Aurelia Marie Pucinski	358,232	48.83
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			733,637	100

Republican primary

Secretary of State Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Edgar (incumbent)	487,842	100
	Write-in	Others	8	0.00
Total votes			487,850	100

General election

The Illinois Solidarity Party ran Jane N. Spirgel in the election. Spirgel was an outgoing member of the DuPage County Board (on which she was the sole remaining Democratic member and had first been elected in 1974).[9]

Secretary of State election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Edgar	2,095,489	67.16
	Illinois Solidarity	Jane N. Spirgel	521,410	16.71
	Democratic	Janice A. Hart	478,361	15.33
	Libertarian	Steven L. Givot	17,566	0.56
	Socialist Workers	Holly Harkness	7,549	0.24
Total votes			3,120,375	100

Comptroller

1986 Illinois State Comptroller election

November 4, 1986
Turnout	51.07%[4]
Nominee Roland Burris Adeline Geo-Karis Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,880,413 1,074,923 Percentage 61.33% 35.06%
State Comptroller before election Roland Burris Democratic Elected State Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch Democratic

Incumbent Comptroller Roland Burris, a Democrat, was reelected to a third term.

Democratic primary

Comptroller Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roland W. Burris (incumbent)	633,142	77.74
	Democratic	Donald S. Clark	181,252	22.26
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			814,395	100

Republican primary

State Senator Adeline Jay Geo-Karis won the Republican primary unopposed.

Comptroller Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adeline Jay Geo-Karis	415,009	100
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			415,010	100

General election

Comptroller election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roland W. Burris (incumbent)	1,880,413	61.33
	Republican	Adeline Jay Geo-Karis	1,074,923	35.06
	Illinois Solidarity	A. Patricia Scott	78,389	2.56
	Libertarian	Donald Morris	22,428	0.73
	Socialist Workers	Jim Miles	9,998	0.33
Total votes			3,066,151	100

Treasurer

1986 Illinois State Treasurer election

November 4, 1986
Turnout	51.08%[4]
Nominee Jerome Cosentino J. Michael Houston Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,724,979 1,252,796 Percentage 56.25% 40.85%
Treasurer before election James Donnewald Democratic Elected Treasurer Jerome Cosentino Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer James Donnewald, a Democrat, lost the Democratic primary to former Treasurer Jerome Cosentino. Consentino won the general election, earning him a second non-consecutive term.

Democratic primary

Incumbent James Donnewald lost renomination to former Treasurer Jerome Cosentino. Donnewald had been the party organization's favored candidate.[10][11] Other candidates running included Cook County Board of Appeals member Pat Quinn and LaRouche movement member Robert D. Hart (who had the formal backing of Lyndon LaRouche's NDPC).[12]

Treasurer Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Cosentino	241,006	30.22
	Democratic	James H. Donnewald (incumbent)	235,052	29.47
	Democratic	Patrick Quinn	208,775	26.18
	Democratic	Robert D. Hart	112,645	14.13
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			797,478	100

Republican primary

J. Michael Houston, the mayor of Springfield, won the Republican nomination.[11] Houston was seeking to become the first Republican Illinois Treasurer in over twenty years.[11] He was also seeking to be the first Republican sitting mayor elected to statewide office in Illinois since Edward C. Akin was elected Illinois Attorney General in 1898.[5]

Treasurer Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Houston	421,486	100
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			421,489	100

General election

Treasurer election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Cosentino	1,724,979	56.25
	Republican	Mike Houston	1,252,796	40.85
	Illinois Solidarity	William E. Skedd	50,570	1.65
	Libertarian	Jay D. Marsh	19,875	0.65
	Socialist Workers	Lucille Robbins	18,285	0.60
Total votes			3,066,505	100

State Senate

Some of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1986. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1986. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1986 Trustees of University of Illinois election

November 4, 1986

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system for six year terms.

The election saw the reelection incumbent Democrat Nina T. Shepherd to a third term, as well as the election of new Democratic trustees Judith Ann Calder and Charles Wolff.[4][13]

First-term incumbent Republicans Galey Day and Dean E. Madden lost reelection.[4][13]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[4][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nina T. Shephered (incumbent)	1,394,762	16.67
	Democratic	Judith Ann Calder	1,362,623	16.29
	Democratic	Charles Wolff	1,300,436	15.54
	Republican	Dean E. Madden (incumbent)	1,271,806	15.20
	Republican	Mrs. Galey Day (incumbent)	1,253,707	14.99
	Republican	David A. McConnell	1,221,379	14.60
	Illinois Solidarity	Elena Mulcahy	108,337	1.30
	Illinois Solidarity	James S. Spencer	102,419	1.22
	Illinois Solidarity	Philip Martin	92,253	1.10
	Libertarian	Anne McCracken	83,586	1.00
	Libertarian	Stephen N. Nelson	52,823	0.63
	Libertarian	Gene Bourke	43,312	0.52
	Socialist Workers	Pedro Vasquez	31,220	0.37
	Socialist Workers	Cathleen Gutekanst	28,093	0.34
	Socialist Workers	Stephen Bloodworth	19,755	0.24
Total votes			8,366,511	100

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1986.[4]

Ballot measures

Illinois voters voted on two ballot measures in 1986,[14] both of them legislatively referred constitutional amendments. In order to be approved, measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[14]

Bail Amendment

Voters approved the Bail Amendment, a legislatively refereed constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Illinois to further expand the population that may be denied bail.[14][15]

Bail Amendment[4][14][15]
Option	Votes	% of votes on referendum	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,368,242	77.25	41.18
No	402,891	22.75	12.13
Total votes	1,771,133	100	53.31
Voter turnout	29.50%

Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes

Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes, a legislatively refereed constitutional amendment which would amend Article IX, Section 6 of the Constitution of Illinois to exempt property used exclusively by veterans' organizations from property taxes, failed to meet either threshold amend the constitution.[14][16]

Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes[4][14][16]
Option	Votes	% of votes on referendum	% of all ballots cast
Yes	860,609	54.19	25.90
No	727,737	45.82	21.90
Total votes	1,588,346	100	47.80
Voter turnout	26.46%

Local elections

Local elections were held. These included county elections, such as the Cook County elections.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH 18, 1986" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
2. Malcolm, Andrew H. (20 March 1986), "2 CONSERVATIVE EXTREMISTS UPSET DEMOCRATS IN THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY", New York Times, pp. A18, retrieved 9 November 2016
3. "Right to Run: Ballot access laws across the country exclude third party candidates". The Politic. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
4. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
5. Dold, R. Bruce (8 December 1985). "RYAN FIGHTS HISTORY IN CAMPAIGN". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
6. Dold, R. Bruce (30 October 1986). "CAREY FIGHTS HARTIGAN`S LEAD IN ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTEST". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
7. "Former Wheeling Township Supervisor, Former Acting Arlington Heights Mayor Michael Schroeder Dies at 61". Cardinal News. Arlington Cardinal. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
8. Daley, Steve (25 May 1986). "PAPER DIDN`T TRAMPLE PRIVACY WITH SCOOP". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
9. Schmeltzer, John. "`SPUNKY` SPIRGEL LAST DEMOCRATIC SURVIVOR ON DU PAGE COUNTY BOARD". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
10. Neal, Steve (12 June 1986). "COSENTINO: NEVER ONE TO DUCK A FIGHT". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
11. Devall, Cheryl (14 October 1986). "COSENTINO`S EDGE CUTS BOTH WAYS". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
12. West, Harry G.; Sanders, Todd (17 April 2003). "Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order". Duke University Press. p. 224. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
13. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
14. "Illinois Constitution - Amendments Proposed". www.ilga.gov. Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
15. "Illinois Bail Amendment (1986)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
16. "Illinois Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes (1986)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 29 March 2020.