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2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

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For related races, see 2006 United States gubernatorial elections.

2006 Illinois gubernatorial election
← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →
Turnout47.29% Decrease 2.76 pp
 
Nominee Rod Blagojevich Judy Baar Topinka Rich Whitney
Party Democratic Republican Green
Running mate Pat Quinn Joe Birkett Julie Samuels
Popular vote 1,736,731 1,369,315 361,336
Percentage 49.79% 39.26% 10.36%
County results
Blagojevich:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Topinka:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

Rod Blagojevich
Democratic

Elected Governor

Rod Blagojevich
Democratic

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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,[1] 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

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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.

See also: 2006 Illinois elections § Turnout

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.[2][3] For the general election, turnout was 47.29%, with 3,487,989 votes cast.[2][3]

Democratic primaries

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Governor

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Candidates

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Results

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County results
Democratic gubernatorial primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rod Blagojevich (incumbent) 669,006 70.84
Democratic Edwin Eisendrath 275,375 29.16
Total votes 944,397 100.00

Lieutenant governor

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Candidates

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Results

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Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Quinn (incumbent) 819,005 100.00
Democratic Pamela R. Schadow 17 0.00
Total votes 819,022 100.00

Republican primaries

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Governor

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Candidates

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Declined

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Campaign

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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.[1][2] These ads, like Gidwitz's ads, also came under review by the Illinois Republican Party.[3] Because of the controversy generated, several television stations withdrew Oberweis's ads.[4]

Results

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  Baar Topinka
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Oberweis
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Brady
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60-70%
Republican gubernatorial primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Judy Baar Topinka 280,701 38.15
Republican Jim Oberweis 233,576 31.74
Republican Bill Brady 135,370 18.40
Republican Ron Gidwitz 80,068 10.88
Republican Andy Martin 6,095 0.83
Total votes 735,810 100.00

Lieutenant governor

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Candidates

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Results

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  Birkett
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Rauschenberger
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joe Birkett 342,950 50.63
Republican Steve Rauschenberger 202,905 29.95
Republican Sandy Wegman 90,255 13.32
Republican Lawrence L. Bruckner 41,307 6.19
Republican Jeremy Bryan Cole 14 0.00
Total votes 677,431 100.00

General election

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Candidates

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On ballot

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Write-ins

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The following candidates were write-in candidates.[7]

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[8] Lean D November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[9] Lean D November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[10] Likely D November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics[11] Lean D November 6, 2006

Polling

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Polling on 14 October 2006
Source Date Rod
Blagojevich (D) 		Judy Baar
Topinka (R) 		Rich
Whitney (G) 		Other
Survey USA[12] November 2, 2006 45% 37% 14% 4%
Survey USA[13] October 23, 2006 44% 34% 14% 8%
Rasmussen[14] October 19, 2006 44% 36% 9% 11%
Zogby/WSJ[15] October 16, 2006 47.1% 33.2% 11.3% 8.4%
Glengariff Group[16] October 15, 2006 39% 30% 9% 22%
Tribune/WGN-TV[17] October 11, 2006 43% 29% 9% 19%
Survey USA[18] September 20, 2006 45% 39% 7% 9%
Rasmussen[19] September 13, 2006 48% 36% – 16%
Sun-Times/NBC5[20] September 12, 2006 56% 26% 3% 15%
Tribune/WGN-TV[21] September 11, 2006 45% 33% 6% 16%
Zogby/WSJ[22] September 11, 2006 46.5% 33.6% – 19.9%
Research 2000[23] August 31, 2006 47% 39% 2% 12%
Zogby/WSJ[22] August 28, 2006 44.8% 37.6% – 17.6%
Rasmussen[24] August 10, 2006 45% 37% – 18%
Survey USA[25] July 25, 2006 45% 34% – 21%
Zogby/WSJ[22] July 24, 2006 44.4% 36.4% – 19.2%
Rasmussen[26] July 13, 2006 45% 34% – 21%
Zogby/WSJ[22] June 21, 2006 41.1% 37.5% – 21.4%
Glengariff Group[27] June 1–3, 2006 41% 34% – 25%
Survey USA[28] May 23, 2006 43% 37% – 20%
Rasmussen[29] April 24, 2006 38% 44% – 18%
Rasmussen[30] March 31, 2006 41% 43% – 16%
Rasmussen[31] February 25, 2006 42% 36% – 22%
Rasmussen[32] February 7, 2006 37% 48% – 15%
Research 2000[33] January 22, 2006 45% 37% – 18%

Results

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2006 Illinois gubernatorial election[2][3][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Rod Blagojevich (incumbent) 1,736,731 49.79% −2.40%
Republican Judy Baar Topinka 1,369,315 39.26% −5.81%
Green Rich Whitney 361,336 10.36% n/a
Write-in 20,607 0.59% n/a
Total votes 3,487,989 100.00% n/a
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Aftermath

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "SurveyUSA News Poll #8260". Surveyusa.com. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Ballots Cast". Elections.illinois.gov. March 21, 2006. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  5. ^ "Jim Edgar says no to run for Illinois Governor". September 30, 2005.
  6. ^ "Prosecutor removes office from case". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. January 21, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Official Vote Cast at the General Election November 7, 2006. Illinois State Board of Elections. November 7, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  8. ^ "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  9. ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10617". www.surveyusa.com.
  13. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10435". www.surveyusa.com.
  14. ^ "Election Polls 2006: Illinois Governor". Archived from the original on October 20, 2006.
  15. ^ "info-elections06". www.wsj.com.
  16. ^ Glengariff Group
  17. ^ "Tribune/WGN-TV". Chicago Tribune.
  18. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10314". www.surveyusa.com.
  19. ^ Rasmussen
  20. ^ Celizic, Mike (October 29, 2009). "Politics, "Dates" Put Bumps in Obamas' Marriage".
  21. ^ "Tribune/WGN-TV". Chicago Tribune.
  22. ^ a b c d "WSJ.com". www.wsj.com.
  23. ^ "Research 2000".[permanent dead link]
  24. ^ "Election Poll 2006: Illinois Governor". August 19, 2006. Archived from the original on August 19, 2006.
  25. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #9827". www.surveyusa.com.
  26. ^ "ilGovernor". Archived from the original on July 16, 2006.
  27. ^ "Glengariff Group". Archived from the original on June 13, 2006.
  28. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #9283". www.surveyusa.com.
  29. ^ "Election 2006 Poll". Archived from the original on May 12, 2006.
  30. ^ Rasmussen
  31. ^ Rasmussen
  32. ^ Rasmussen
  33. ^ Research 2000
  34. ^ "Ballots Cast". Elections.illinois.gov. November 7, 2006. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
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Official campaign websites (Archived)

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