1998 Illinois gubernatorial election

none related races 1998 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election Illinois presidential no 1994 Illinois gubernatorial election 1994 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election 2002 November 3, 1998 Illinois Governor George Ryan (398309572) (3x4).jpg 150x150px George Ryan Corinne Wood Republican Party (United States) 1,714,094 51.03% GlennPoshardbio (cropped).jpg Glenn Poshard Mary Lou Kearns Democratic Party (United States) 1,594,191 47.46% 160px County results 160px Congressional district results Ryan: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Poshard: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% Governor Jim Edgar Republican Party (United States) George Ryan Republican Party (United States) 49.72% 1.05 pp The 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican Governor Jim Edgar did not run for a third term in office. Republican nominee George Ryan, the Illinois Secretary of State, narrowly won the election against Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard. With this election Corinne Wood became the first female lieutenant governor of the state. Background 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 1998 Illinois elections. For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 24.58%, with 1,658,296 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 19.76% with 1,333,446 votes cast.Voter Turnout https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/VoterTurnout.aspx 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 Election Results https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/ElectionVoteTotals.aspx 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 For the general election, turnout was 49.72%, with 3,358,705 votes cast. Due to Poshard's more conservative social positions he carried the reliably Republican downstate, while Ryan's liberal social policies led him to carry the more Democratic Chicago area. Democratic primaries Governor Candidates Larry Burgess Jim Burns, former United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (1993–97) and 1990 nominee for lieutenant governor Roland Burris, former Illinois attorney general (1991–95) and 1994 candidate for governor Maurice Horton Glenn Poshard, U.S. representative from CartervilleWalsh Edward ILLINOIS REPUBLICAN GOV. EDGAR TO RETIRE, FORGOING CHALLENGE FOR SENATE SEAT https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/08/21/illinois-republican-gov-edgar-to-retire-forgoing-challenge-for-senate-seat/f6b5cc52-da20-4eeb-a609-81aa88b41dc7/ Washington Post 10 September 2025 https://archive.today/20250910011058/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/08/21/illinois-republican-gov-edgar-to-retire-forgoing-challenge-for-senate-seat/f6b5cc52-da20-4eeb-a609-81aa88b41dc7/ 10 September 2025 20 August 1977 live subscription John Schmidt, former United States associate attorney general (1994–97) Declined Neil Hartigan, former Illinois attorney general (1983–91), lieutenant governor of Illinois (1973–77), and 1990 nominee for governorTribune Chicago Tribune Chicago 1996-11-26 HARTIGAN’S DECLARATION NOT TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR OPENS ’98 DOOR TO 2 https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/11/26/hartigans-declaration-not-to-run-for-governor-opens-98-door-to-2/ 2024-04-28 Chicago Tribune en-US Results thumb|Gubernatorial primary results by county #6674de Poshard #bdd3ff Poshard—30–40% #a5b0ff Poshard—40–50% #7996e2 Poshard—50–60% #6674de Poshard—60–70% #584cde Poshard—70–80% #3933e5 Poshard—80–90% #0d0596 Poshard—90–100% #37c837 Burris #87de87 Burris—40–50% #ee8e50 Schmidt #ffcca9 Schmidt—30–40% #ffb580 Schmidt—40–50% #ff9a50 Schmidt—50–60% Democratic gubernatorial primary resultshttp://www.elections.illinois.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GP&ElectionID=12&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1711&QueryType=Office& Ballots Cast Elections.illinois.gov 1998-03-17 2015-04-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081910/http://www.elections.illinois.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GP&ElectionID=12&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1711&QueryType=Office& 2016-03-04 dead Glenn Poshard Democratic Party (United States) 357,342 37.60 Roland Burris Democratic Party (United States) 290,393 30.56 John R. Schmidt Democratic Party (United States) 236,309 24.87 Jim Burns Democratic Party (United States) 55,233 5.81 Larry Burgess Democratic Party (United States) 6,075 0.64 Maurice Horton Democratic Party (United States) 4,955 0.52 950,307 100.00 Lieutenant governor Candidates thumb|Lieutenant gubernatorial primary results by county #7996e2 Kearns #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #5fd35f Quinn #5fd35f 50–60% Mary Lou Kearns, Kane County coronerKANE CORONER TO JOIN JESSE WHITE'S STAFF https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-01-13-9901130176-story.html chicagotribune.com Chicago Tribune 24 March 2020 13 January 1999 Pat Quinn, former Illinois treasurer Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results Mary Lou Kearns Democratic Party (United States) 391,373 50.09 Pat Quinn Democratic Party (United States) 389,905 49.91 781,278 100 Republican primaries Governor Candidates George Ryan, Illinois secretary of state Chad Koppie, perennial candidate and conservative activist Results Republican gubernatorial primary results George Ryan Republican Party (United States) 608,940 86.08 Chad Koppie Republican Party (United States) 98,466 13.92 707,406 100.00 Lieutenant governor Candidates Corinne Wood, state representative from Barrington Results Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results Corrine G. Wood Republican Party (United States) 551,580 100 551,580 100 Reform primary Governor Candidates Lawrence Redmond Results Reform gubernatorial primary results Lawrence Redmond Reform Party (United States) 583 100.00 583 100.00 Lieutenant governor Candidates Phyllis Nirchi Results Reform lieutenant gubernatorial primary results Philomena "Phyllis" Nirchi Reform Party (United States) 588 100 588 100 General election Candidates Glenn Poshard, U.S. representative from Carterville Running mate: Mary Lou Kearns, Kane County coroner Lawrence Redmond (Reform) Running mate: Phyllis Nirchi George Ryan, Illinois secretary of state (Republican) Running mate: Corinne Wood, state representative from Barrington Polling Poll source Date(s)administered SamplesizeKey:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error GeorgeRyan (R) GlennPoshard (D) Other / undecidedpolling Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined. Harris Insights & AnalyticsFiveThirtyEight's Pollster Ratings Raw Polls File https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fivethirtyeight/data/refs/heads/master/pollster-ratings/2023/raw-polls.csv October 15, 2026 GitHub FiveThirtyEight October 30, 1998 847 — 55% 41% 4% Zogby Interactive/JZ Analytics October 29, 1998 703 — 51% 37% 12% Richard Day Research Inc. October 27, 1998 712 — 56% 35% 9%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyCNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Illinois 1998 Polls https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/IL/polls/IL98G.html CNN 22 June 2025 https://archive.today/20250622035414/https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/IL/polls/IL98G.html 22 June 2025 liveOctober 24–26, 1998813 (LV)± 3.5%48%37%15% Harris Insights & Analytics October 20, 1998 1,209 — 55% 37% 8% KRC/Communications Research October 20, 1998 400 — 44% 42% 14%KRC Communications ResearchKRCOctober 19–20, 1998400 (LV)± 5.0%44%42%14% Market Shares Corp. October 19, 1998 1,099 — 49% 34% 17% WCIA-TV October 14, 1998 401 — 58% 32% 10%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyOctober 10–12, 1998830 (LV)± 3.5%51%36%13%Market Shares CorporationOctober 3–6, 19981,099 (LV)± 3.0%52%31%17%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategySeptember 11–14, 1998811 (LV)± 3.5%50%38%12%KRC Communications ResearchKRC Poll sponsored by the Chicago Sun-Times & WBBM-TVSeptember 8–10, 1998400 (LV)± 4.8%52%34%14%Zogby InternationalPoll sponsored by the St. Louis Post-DispatchAugust 31 – September 1, 1998726 (LV)± 4.0%47%37%16%Market Share Corp.August 11–17, 19981,109 (RV)± 3.0%51%30%19%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyJuly 10–13, 1998807 (LV)± 3.5%44%37%19%University of Illinois at ChicagoJune 9 – July 3, 1998465 (LV)± 5.0%46%39%13%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyMarch 8–10, 1998831 (LV)± 3.5%48%26%26%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyFebruary 6–9, 1998804 (RV)± 3.5%50%26%24% Results Illinois gubernatorial election, 1998http://www.elections.illinois.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GE&ElectionID=11&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1308&QueryType=Office& Ballots Cast Elections.illinois.gov 1998-11-03 2015-04-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095755/http://www.elections.illinois.gov/ElectionInformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=GE&ElectionID=11&SearchType=OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1308&QueryType=Office& 2016-03-04 dead Republican Party (United States) George Ryan / Corinne Wood 1,714,094 51.03% -12.85% Democratic Party (United States) Glenn Poshard / Mary Lou Kearns 1,594,191 47.46% +13.02% Reform Party (United States) Lawrence Redmond / Phyllis Nirchi 50,372 1.50% Write-ins 48 0.00% 119,903 3.57% -25.87% 3,358,705 49.72% Republican Party (United States) See also List of governors of Illinois Notes Partisan clients References 1998 Illinois Gubernatorial