2002 Illinois gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:2002 Illinois gubernatorial election
Country:Illinois
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1998 Illinois gubernatorial election
Previous Year:1998
Next Election:2006 Illinois gubernatorial election
Next Year:2006
Election Date:November 5, 2002
Image1:File:B-Rod.jpg
Nominee1:Rod Blagojevich
Running Mate1:Pat Quinn
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,847,040
Percentage1:52.19%
Image2 Size:100
Nominee2:Jim Ryan
Running Mate2:Carl Hawkinson
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,594,961
Percentage2:45.07%
Map Size:300px
Governor
Before Election:George Ryan
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Rod Blagojevich
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)
Turnout:50.05% 0.33 pp

The 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor George Ryan, who was plagued by scandal, did not run for a second term. Democrat Rod Blagojevich, a U.S. Congressman, ran against Republican Jim Ryan (no relation to the incumbent), the Illinois Attorney General. Blagojevich won 52% to 45%, becoming the first Democrat to win an election for governor since 1972.

As of 2023, this is the last Illinois governor election where no candidate running was an incumbent.

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (Senate and House), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 2002 Illinois elections.

Turnout

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]

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

Results

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 the Chicago suburbs, and narrowly defeated Burris in Cook 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 of Illinois. 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 in Champaign County, home of Champaign. Blagojevich also did well in Sangamon County home to the state's capital, Springfield. Blagojevich also won St. Clair County home of East 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.

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results

Libertarian nomination

In March 2002, the Libertarian Party of Illinois nominated Cal Skinner. Skinner had formerly served as a Republican state representative, and was a political conservative.[3]

General election

Campaign

In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan by a solid margin. Ethics scandals had plagued the administration of incumbent Republican George 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."[4]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report[5] October 31, 2002
Sabato's Crystal Ball[6] November 4, 2002

Results

Although the election was thought to be a close one early on in the campaign, Blagojevich's big numbers out of Cook County were too much for the Republicans to come back from.

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Voter Turnout . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 24 March 2020 . 30 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210530142655/https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/VoterTurnout.aspx . dead .
  2. Web site: Election Results . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 23 March 2020 . 22 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200222093629/https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/ElectionVoteTotals.aspx . dead .
  3. Web site: Mann . Anthony . Libertarian Party nomination may pose problems for Ryan . subscription . Newspapers.com . Southern Illinoisan . 12 March 2023 . en . March 26, 2002.
  4. News: Lin. Joanna. He campaigned as a reformer. Los Angeles Times. December 10, 2008. May 16, 2015.
  5. Web site: Governor Updated October 31, 2002 The Cook Political Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20021208065752/http://www.cookpolitical.com/display.cfm?section=political&edit_id=225. December 8, 2002. The Cook Political Report. en. October 31, 2002. September 18, 2018. dead. mdy-all.
  6. Web site: Governors Races. https://web.archive.org/web/20021212142349/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/governor_all.htm. December 12, 2002. www.centerforpolitics.org. en-US. November 4, 2002. September 18, 2018. dead. mdy-all.