2002 Illinois gubernatorial election

none related races 2002 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election Illinois presidential no 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election 1998 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election 2006 November 5, 2002 File:B-Rod.jpg 150x150px Rod Blagojevich Pat Quinn Democratic Party (United States) 1,847,040 52.19% 3x4.svg Jim Ryan Carl Hawkinson Republican Party (United States) 1,594,961 45.07% 160px 300px County results Blagojevich: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70%Ryan: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% Governor George Ryan Republican Party (United States) Rod Blagojevich Democratic Party (United States) 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%, snapping a losing streak of seven elections, and becoming the first Democrat to win an election for governor in 30 years, since 1972. As of 2026, this is the most recent Illinois governor election in which no candidate running was an incumbent. 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 2002 Illinois elections. 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.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 50.05%, with 3,538,891 votes cast. Democratic primary Governor Candidates Rod Blagojevich, U.S. representative Roland Burris, former attorney general of Illinois, former Illinois state comptroller, candidate for governor in 1994 and 1998 and independent candidate for mayor of Chicago in 1995 Paul Vallas, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools Debate + 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election Democratic primary debate No. Number Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Democratic DemocraticKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn Rod Blagojevich Roland Burris Paul Vallas1 Jan. 10, 2002 City Club of Chicago Paul Green YouTube P P P Results The Democratic primary was a very close three-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 4:18am, Vallas called Blagojevich and congratulated him, and pledged Blagojevich his full support for the general election. thumb|160px|County results #6674de Blagojevich #bdd3ffff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #5bc75bff Vallas #a2ffa2ff 30–40% #78e478ff 40–50% #5bc75bff 50–60% #ff9955ff Burris #ffb380ff 40–50% Democratic gubernatorial primary resultshttps://www.elections.il.gov/electioninformation/VoteTotalsList.aspx?ElectionType=7kq5QB6bAl4%3d&ElectionID=JyZrg4HyJNo%3d&SearchType=qSfAwUdk1qOFOZFs8GbBdddK0yLOKECmUkSdD0Lok1c%3d&OfficeID=Lqh3yv0FUvI%3d&QueryType=qSfAwUdk1qOEjNYZC1%2bXwQ%3d%3d& Ballots Cast Illinois State Board of Elections 19 March 2002 28 May 2019August 2024 InternetArchiveBot yes Rod Blagojevich Democratic Party (United States) 457,197 36.50 Paul Vallas Democratic Party (United States) 431,728 34.47 Roland Burris Democratic Party (United States) 363,591 29.03 1,252,516 100.00 Lieutenant governor Candidates F. Michael Kelleher Jr. Pat Quinn, former treasurer of Illinois, nominee for secretary of state in 1994 candidate for US Senate in 1996 candidate for lieutenant governor in 1998 Joyce Washington, nurse Results thumb|160px|County results #7996e2 Quinn #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #b380ff Washington #cda6ff 40–50% #f9d440 Kelleher #ffe680 40–50% #f9d440 50–60% #f4c200 60–70% #daae00 70–80% Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results Pat Quinn Democratic Party (United States) 471,038 42.11 Joyce W. Washington Democratic Party (United States) 362,902 32.35 F. Michael Kelleher, Jr. Democratic Party (United States) 284,549 25.44 1,118,489 100.00 Republican primary Governor Candidates Patrick O'Malley, state senator Jim Ryan, attorney general of Illinois Corinne Wood, lieutenant governor Results thumb|160px|County results #e27f7f Ryan #ffc8cd 30–40% #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #b380ff O'Malley #e8cdff 30–40% #cda6ff 40–50% #b380ff 50–60% #9955ff 60–70% #f9d440 Wood #ffeeaa 30–40% #ffe680 40–50% #bb3386 Tie (40–50%) Republican primary results Jim Ryan Republican Party (United States) 410,074 44.68 Patrick O'Malley Republican Party (United States) 260,860 28.42 Corinne Wood Republican Party (United States) 246,825 26.89 Write-ins Republican Party (United States) 69 0.01 917,828 100.00 Lieutenant governor Candidates Carl Hawkinson, state senator and former Knox County state's attorney Jack McInerney William O'Connor Charles Owens Results thumb|160px| #e27f7f Hawkinson #ffc8cd 30–40% #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% #A80000 >90% #5bc75b O'Connor #aae5aa 30–40% #87de87 40–50% #5bc75b 50–60% #ff7644 Owens #ff8e65 40–50% Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results Carl Hawkinson Republican Party (United States) 373,040 47.22 William A. O'Connor Republican Party (United States) 257,375 32.58 Jack J. McInerney Republican Party (United States) 90,571 11.46 Charles G. Owens Republican Party (United States) 69,089 8.74 790,075 100.00 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.Mann Anthony Libertarian Party nomination may pose problems for Ryan https://www.newspapers.com/image/85490051 subscription Newspapers.com Southern Illinoisan 12 March 2023 en March 26, 2002 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."Lin Joanna https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-10-na-gov-profile10-story.html He campaigned as a reformer Los Angeles Times December 10, 2008 May 16, 2015 Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political Reporthttp://www.cookpolitical.com:80/display.cfm?section=political&edit_id=225 https://web.archive.org/web/20021208065752/http://www.cookpolitical.com/display.cfm?section=political&edit_id=225 December 8, 2002 Governor Updated October 31, 2002 The Cook Political Report The Cook Political Report en October 31, 2002 September 18, 2018 dead mdy-all Lean D FlipOctober 31, 2002Sabato's Crystal Ballhttp://www.centerforpolitics.org:80/crystalball/governor_all.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20021212142349/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/governor_all.htm December 12, 2002 Governors Races www.centerforpolitics.org en-US November 4, 2002 September 18, 2018 dead mdy-all Likely D FlipNovember 4, 2002 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesizekey Key:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error RodBlagojevich (D) JimRyan (R) CalSkinner (L) Other /UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA October 28–30, 2002 535 (LV) ± 4.3% 53% 39% 4% 4% 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. 2002 Illinois gubernatorial electionhttps://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionResults.aspx?ID=zSlj0mHwIc8%3d Election Results Illinois State Board of Elections 5 November 2002 28 May 2019 Democratic Party (United States) Rod Blagojevich 1,847,040 52.19% +4.73% Republican Party (United States) Jim Ryan 1,594,961 45.07% -5.96% Libertarian Party (US) Cal Skinner 73,794 2.09% N/A Independent politician Marisellis Brown 23,089 0.65% N/A Write-in Peter Dale Kauss 8 0.00% N/A 3,538,891 100.00% N/A Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Clinton (largest city: Breese) Coles (largest city: Charleston) Fayette (largest city: Vandalia) Greene (largest city: Carrollton) Jersey (largest city: Jerseyville) Moultrie (largest city: Sullivan) Shelby (largest city: Shelbyville) White (largest city: Carmi) Williamson (largest city: Marion) Johnson (largest city: Vienna) Cumberland (largest city: Neoga) Crawford (largest city: Robinson) Wabash (largest city: Mount Carmel) Effingham (largest city: Effingham) Clark (largest city: Marshall) Jasper (largest city: Newton) Richland (largest city: Olney) Clay (largest city: Flora) Wayne (largest city: Fairfield) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Rock Island (largest city: Moline) Whiteside (largest city: Sterling) LaSalle (largest city: Ottawa) Winnebago (largest city: Rockford) Mason (largest city: Havana) Putnam (largest city: Hennpin) See also Electoral history of Rod Blagojevich Notes References External links Official campaign websites (archived) Rod Blagojevich (D) for Governor Jim Ryan (R) for Governor Gubernatorial Illinois 2002 Category:Rod Blagojevich