2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

The 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich won re-election to a second four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich did not complete his term, as he was impeached and removed from office in 2009. This was the first election since 1964 that a Democrat was re-elected governor.

Many observers expected the race to be close, especially considering the polling,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which had shown Governor Blagojevich to have a high disapproval rating. However, the Republicans had fared poorly due to scandals involving prior Governor George Ryan, and the increasingly unpopular presidency of George W. Bush. Exit polls showed Topinka won white voters (46%-41%-13%), while Blagojevich performed well among African Americans (80%-16%-2%) and Latinos (83%-12%-4%). Democrats won Will County for the first time since 1964, and Lake County for the first time since 1960.

This was the second and last time in Illinois that a woman was a major party's nominee for governor, the other being 1994. This was also the last time a male lieutenant governor was on the winning ticket.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for Congress and those for other state offices. The election was part of the 2006 Illinois elections.

For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 23.13%, with 1,680,207 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 20.60% with 1,496,453 votes cast.<ref name=turnout>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="result">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For the general election, turnout was 47.29%, with 3,487,989 votes cast.<ref name=turnout/><ref name="result"/>

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

• Rod Blagojevich, incumbent governor of Illinois
• Edwin Eisendrath, former Chicago Alderman and former HUD official

Results

File:Illinois Governor D Primary 2006.svg

County results Template:Collapsible list Template:Collapsible list

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Pat Quinn, incumbent lieutenant governor of Illinois
• Pamela R. Schadow

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

• Bill Brady, Illinois State Senator
• Ron Gidwitz, businessman and former chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education
• Andy Martin, perennial candidate
• Jim Oberweis, owner of Oberweis Dairy
• Judy Baar Topinka, Illinois State Treasurer

Declined

• Jim Edgar, former governor <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Campaign

On November 7, 2005, Topinka announced that she would not seek re-election as state treasurer — instead, she entered the gubernatorial primary, hoping to challenge Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Republican primary was deeply divisive; her tenure as Party Chairman destroyed her support from the conservative wing of her party, and it was feared that her pro-choice and positive gay rights positions would be detrimental to her standing with the same conservatives. In December she announced that she would join forces with DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

In February 2006, the candidates for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor began running their first TV ads for the March statewide primary election. Rival candidate Ron Gidwitz's advertisements, attacking Topinka, were rebuked in the same week by the Illinois Republican Party: "In an unprecedented action, the Illinois Republican Party has officially rebuked the Gidwitz campaign for this ad because the Party found that the ad violates the Party's "Code of Conduct", which was enacted to police proper conduct among Republican candidates."

Later in February, candidate Jim Oberweis, another rival for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination, started a series of attack ads for television markets, against Topinka, that were even more widely criticized, mostly for using "fake" headlines on the images of actual Illinois newspapers.^{{{#if:|{{{2}}}|[1]}}{{#if:|{{{2}}}|[2]}}} These ads, like Gidwitz's ads, also came under review by the Illinois Republican Party.^{{{#if:|{{{2}}}|[3]}}} Because of the controversy generated, several television stations withdrew Oberweis's ads.^{{{#if:|{{{2}}}|[4]}}}

Results

File:2006 Illinois gubernatorial Republican primary results map by county.svg

County results Template:Collapsible list Template:Collapsible list Template:Collapsible list

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Joe Birkett, DuPage County State's Attorney
• Lawrence Bruckner, lawyer
• Jeremy Bryan Cole
• Steve Rauschenberger, member of the Illinois Senate
• Sandy Wegman, Kane County Recorder<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Results

File:2006 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial Republican primary results map by county.svg

County results Template:Collapsible list Template:Collapsible list

General election

Candidates

On ballot

• Rod Blagojevich (Democratic Party), incumbent governor of Illinois
• Judy Baar Topinka (Republican Party), Illinois State Treasurer
• Rich Whitney (Green Party), attorneyTemplate:Citation needed

Write-ins

The following candidates were write-in candidates.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

• Marvin Koch, Chicago-area property manager and naval reservist.
• Mark McCoy (Libertarian Party), legal Scholar and Rights Defender
• Angel Rivera, lung transplant procurement coordinator at the University of Chicago Medical Center
• Mike Shorten

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:USRaceRating	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:USRaceRating	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:USRaceRating	November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:USRaceRating	November 6, 2006

Polling

File:2006IllinoisGubernatorialElectionPolling061014.gif

Polling on 14 October 2006

Source	Date	Rod Template:Nowrap	Judy Baar Topinka (R)	Rich Whitney (G)	Other
Survey USA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	November 2, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	37%	14%	4%
Survey USA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	October 23, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 44%	34%	14%	8%
Rasmussen<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	October 19, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 44%	36%	9%	11%
Zogby/WSJ<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	October 16, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 47.1%	33.2%	11.3%	8.4%
Glengariff Group<ref>Glengariff Group</ref>	October 15, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 39%	30%	9%	22%
Tribune/WGN-TV<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	October 11, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 43%	29%	9%	19%
Survey USA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	September 20, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	39%	7%	9%
Rasmussen<ref>Rasmussen</ref>	September 13, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 48%	36%	–	16%
Sun-Times/NBC5<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	September 12, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 56%	26%	3%	15%
Tribune/WGN-TV<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	September 11, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	33%	6%	16%
Zogby/WSJ<ref name="Zogby/WSJ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	September 11, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 46.5%	33.6%	–	19.9%
Research 2000<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>	August 31, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 47%	39%	2%	12%
Zogby/WSJ<ref name="Zogby/WSJ"/>	August 28, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 44.8%	37.6%	–	17.6%
Rasmussen<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	August 10, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	37%	–	18%
Survey USA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	July 25, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	34%	–	21%
Zogby/WSJ<ref name="Zogby/WSJ"/>	July 24, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 44.4%	36.4%	–	19.2%
Rasmussen<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	July 13, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	34%	–	21%
Zogby/WSJ<ref name="Zogby/WSJ"/>	June 21, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 41.1%	37.5%	–	21.4%
Glengariff Group<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	June 1–3, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 41%	34%	–	25%
Survey USA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	May 23, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 43%	37%	–	20%
Rasmussen<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	April 24, 2006	38%	Template:Party shading/Republican| 44%	–	18%
Rasmussen<ref>Rasmussen</ref>	March 31, 2006	41%	Template:Party shading/Republican| 43%	–	16%
Rasmussen<ref>Rasmussen</ref>	February 25, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 42%	36%	–	22%
Rasmussen<ref>Rasmussen</ref>	February 7, 2006	37%	Template:Party shading/Republican| 48%	–	15%
Research 2000<ref>Research 2000</ref>	January 22, 2006	Template:Party shading/Democratic| 45%	37%	–	18%

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Will (Largest city: Joliet)
• Williamson (Largest city: Marion)
• Boone (largest city: Belvidere)
• Mercer (largest city: Aledo)
• Monroe (largest city: Waterloo)
• Henderson (Largest village: Oquawka)
• Knox (Largest city: Galesburg)
• Lake (largest city: Waukegan)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Jackson (largest city: Carbondale)
• Cass (Largest city: Beardstown)
• Christian (Largest city: Taylorville)
• Clinton (Largest city: Breese)
• Marion (Largest city: Centralia)
• Mason (Largest city: Havana)
• Greene (Largest city: Carrollton)
• Macoupin (largest city: Carlinville)
• Macon (largest city: Decatur)
• Montgomery (largest city: Litchfield)
• Crawford (largest city: Robinson)

Aftermath

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} The Green Party became an established political party statewide, according to Illinois state election law, when Rich Whitney received more than 5% of the total vote for governor. The new status provided the party with several new advantages, such as lower signature requirements for ballot access, primary elections, free access to additional voter data, the ability to elect precinct committeemen, run a partial slate of candidates at any jurisdictional level, and slate candidates without petitioning. The only other statewide established political parties were the Democratic and Republican Parties. It is rare for a new political party to become established statewide in Illinois, the last to do so being the Solidarity Party in 1986 and the Progressive Party before that.

See also

• 2006 Illinois elections
• 2006 United States gubernatorial elections
• 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• Whitney's Campaign Website
• Blagojevich's Campaign Website
• Topinka's Campaign Website
• Stufflebeam's Campaign Website
• Mark McCoy's Campaign Website
• Koch's Campaign Website
• Quinn's Campaign Website
• Birkett's Campaign Website