1986 Illinois gubernatorial election

none related races 1986 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election Illinois presidential no 1982 Illinois gubernatorial election 1982 1990 Illinois gubernatorial election 1990 November 4, 1986 File:Governor James Thompson 2 (3x4).jpg 150x150px Jim Thompson George Ryan Republican Party (United States) 1,655,849 52.67% Adlai III (3x4) (cropped less).jpg Adlai Stevenson III Solidarity Party (Illinois) 008000 Mike Howlett 1,256,626 39.97% NOTA Option Logo 3x4.svg No nominee Democratic Party (United States) Mark Fairchild 208,830 6.64% 160px County results 160px Township results Thompson: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90%Stevenson: #87de87 40–50% #5FD35F 50–60% #37C837 60–70% #2CA02C 70–80% #217821 80–90%Tie: #DECDE6 30–40% #D2B1D9 40–50% Governor James R. Thompson Republican Party (United States) James R. Thompson Republican Party (United States) 52.37% 9.21 pp The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, former United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 400,000 votes. Stevenson, a Democrat, originally ran for and received that party's gubernatorial nomination. However, his preferred candidate lost the lieutenant gubernatorial nomination to Mark J. Fairchild in the primary (primaries for both major parties were held March 18, 1986). When it came out after the primary that Fairchild was a member of the LaRouche movement, Stevenson withdrew from the Democratic gubernatorial ticket to avoid running with Fairchild. At that time in Illinois, the governor and lieutenant governor were nominated in separate primaries, but ran as a single ticket in the general election. Stevenson formed the third party Solidarity Party and ran as its candidate with Mike Howlett as his running mate. Virtually the entire Democratic establishment supported Stevenson's bid. The "official" Democratic ticket, ultimately running Fairchild on the ballot alone as a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee without a gubernatorial nominee atop the ticket, only just managed to surpass the 5% mark needed for the party to retain their major party status in Illinois after the election. Background The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal offices (Senate and House), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 1986 Illinois elections. The primaries saw turnout of 21.10% in the gubernatorial primaries, with 1,289,162 votes cast, and turnout of 18.01% in the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries, with 1,100,110 votes cast.OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH 18, 1986 https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1986/1986%20PE.PDF www.elections.il.gov Illinois Secretary of State 10 April 2020 August 2024 InternetArchiveBot yes Turnout during the general election was 52.37%, with 3,143,978 votes cast.https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1986/1986%20GE.PDF OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986 www.elections.il.gov Illinois State Board of Elections 10 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20220602085116/https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1986/1986%20GE.PDF 2022-06-02 live Democratic primary Adlai Stevenson III won a comfortable victory in the primary over perennial candidate Larry Burgess. Originally, Attorney General Neil Hartigan had declared himself a candidate for governor. However, soon after Stevenson announced his intention to run as well, Hartigan opted to run for reelection as Illinois Attorney General instead.Dold R. Bruce 8 December 1985 RYAN FIGHTS HISTORY IN CAMPAIGN https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-12-08-8503240816-story.html 10 April 2020 Chicago TribuneDold R. Bruce 30 October 1986 CAREY FIGHTS HARTIGAN'S LEAD IN ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTEST https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-10-30-8603210776-story.html 10 April 2020 Chicago Tribune As a result of Stevenson's primary victory, the 1986 election was a rematch of the 1982 election, which had been narrowly won by Thompson over Adlai Stevenson III by about 5,000 votes out of over 3.5 million votes cast. However, Stevenson's efforts were largely derailed in the primary when the candidates he supported for Lieutenant Governor (George Sangmeister) and Secretary of State (Aurelia Pucinski) were both upset by Mark J. Fairchild and Janice Hart. While not heavily publicized during the primaries, Fairchild and Hart were followers of the controversial Lyndon LaRouche. When this became public knowledge after the primaries, Stevenson was forced to abandon his Democratic Party nomination and run as a third-party candidate. As of 2024, this remains the last time a third-party candidate finished in the top two in the Illinois governor's race. Malcolm Andrew H. 2 CONSERVATIVE EXTREMISTS UPSET DEMOCRATS IN THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY New York Times A18 20 March 1986 https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/20/us/2-conservative-extremists-upset-democrats-in-the-illinois-primary.html 9 November 2016 However, politicians here suggested other reasons: an unusually low turnout of about 25 percent of the 6.1 million registered voters and the relatively unfamiliar names of Mr. Stevenson’s candidates, George Sangmeister for Lieutenant Governor and Aurelia Pucinski for Secretary of State. The LaRouche victors were Mark J. Fairchild for Lieutenant Governor and Janice Hart for Secretary of State. Stevenson made it clear right after learning his running mate was to be a LaRouche supporter that he would "never run on a ticket with candidates who espouse the hate-filled folly of Lyndon LaRouche". Kraft Scott Greem Larry Two LaRouche Illinois Victories Stun Democrats L.A. Times 20 March 1986 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-20-mn-21472-story.html 9 November 2016 At a packed news conference Wednesday night, Stevenson declared: "I will never run on a ticket with candidates who espouse the hate-filled folly of Lyndon LaRouche." Governor Candidates Adlai Stevenson III, former U.S. Senator from Illinois (1970–1981), former treasurer of Illinois (1967–1970), and Democratic nominee for governor in 1982 Larry Burgess, perennial candidateElection Names https://www.lib.niu.edu/1990/ii900223.html 2024-08-01 www.lib.niu.edu Withdrew Neil Hartigan, incumbent attorney general of Illinois (1983–1991) and former lieutenant governor of Illinois (1973–1977) (endorsed Stevenson, successfully ran for reelection as attorney general) Democratic gubernatorial primary Democratic Party (United States) Adlai E. Stevenson 735,249 92.93 Democratic Party (United States) Larry Burgess 55,930 7.07 1 0.00 791,180 100 Lieutenant governor Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary Democratic Party (United States) Mark J. Fairchild 340,727 51.75 Democratic Party (United States) George E. Sangmeister 317,700 48.25 4 0.00 658,431 100 Republican primary Governor Incumbent James R. Thompson defeated his sole challenger, Peter Bowen. Republican gubernatorial primary Republican Party (United States) James R. Thompson (incumbent) 452,685 90.90 Republican Party (United States) Peter Bowen 45,236 9.08 61 0.01 497,982 100 Lieutenant governor Incumbent George Ryan won the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, running unopposed. Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary Republican Party (United States) George Ryan (incumbent) 441,672 100 7 0.00 441,679 100 Third-party nominations Adlai Stevenson III's newly-formed Illinois Solidarity Party nominated him for governor. Mike Howlett, an associate judge on the Cook County Circuit Court and son of former Illinois Secretary of State Michael Howlett, was nominated for lieutenant governor. Stevenson opted to avoid having his ticket spoiling the performance of non-LaRouche affiliated Democratic nominees for statewide office by having political unknowns nominated on his Solidarity slate for all offices except lieutenant governor and secretary of state. The Libertarian Party nominated Gary L. Shilts for governor and Gerry Walsh for lieutenant governor.Egler Daniel STEVENSON IN FILING LINE BEHIND MINOR PARTIES https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-07-31-8602250001-story.html Chicago Tribune 10 April 2020 31 July 1986 The Socialist Workers Party nominated Diane Roling for governor and Jim Little for lieutenant governor. Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, a strong supporter of Stevenson's candidacy, worked to combat an attempt by a Black activist to collect signatures for a third-party slate of Black candidates for statewide office, which was seen as likely to threaten Stevenson in a general election by dividing the Black vote.Gailey Phil IN ILLINOIS, STEVENSON MAKES IT A RACE https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/12/us/in-illinois-stevenson-makes-it-a-race.html The New York Times 9 May 2022 12 August 1986 General election Thompson's reelection campaign received the backing of incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan. 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election Republican Party (United States) James R. Thompson (incumbent)/ George Ryan (incumbent) 1,655,849 52.67 +3.23 Solidarity Party (Illinois) Adlai Stevenson III/ Mike Howlett 1,256,626 39.97 N/A Democratic Party (United States) No candidate/ Mark Fairchild 208,830 6.64 -42.66 Libertarian Party (US) Gary L. Shilts/ Gerry Walsh 15,646 0.50 -0.16 Socialist Workers Party (United States) Diane Roling/ Jim Little 6,843 0.22 +0.22 Write-in Charles E. Koen 141 0.01 N/A Write-in Wilbur L. Keeling 30 0.00 N/A Write-in David L. Bernabie 13 0.00 N/A 399,223 12.70 3,143,978 52.37 Republican Party (United States) References Gubernatorial Illinois 1986