1948 Illinois gubernatorial election

none related races 1948 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 January 2021 1948 Illinois gubernatorial election Illinois 1915 presidential no 1944 Illinois gubernatorial election 1944 November 2, 1948 1952 Illinois gubernatorial election 1952 File:Adlai E. Stevenson II (IL 2) (cropped).jpg 150x150px Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Party (United States) 2,250,074 57.11% File:Dwight H. Green (IL) (cropped).png Dwight H. Green Republican Party (United States) 1,678,007 42.59% 1948 Illinois gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 160px County results Stevenson: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70%Green: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% Governor Dwight H. Green Republican Party (United States) Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Party (United States) The 1948 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1948.OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the General Election, November 2, 1948 Judicial elections, 1947–1948, • Primary Election General Primary, April 13, 1948 https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1948/PE%20and%20GE%201948.pdf Illinois State Board of Elections July 11, 2020 June 5, 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20260605044221/https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads%2FElectionOperations%2FVoteTotals%2FArchived%2F1948%2FPE%20and%20GE%201948.pdf dead Incumbent Governor Dwight H. Green, a Republican seeking a third term, lost reelection to Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II. The primaries and general election both coincided with those for federal offices (United States President, House, and United States Senate) and those for other state offices. The election was part of the 1948 Illinois elections. At the time, Illinois was a predominantly Republican-leaning state. The state had only elected three Democratic governors since the American Civil War. Stevenson defeated Green in what was regarded as a surprise upset. His margin of victory of 572,067 votes was, at the time, record-breaking for an Illinois gubernatorial election.Porter McKeever 1989 Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy William Morrow and Company New York 978-0-688-06661-1 126 registration https://archive.org/details/adlaistevensonhi00mcke Whitney Alan Stevenson of Illinois https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/stevenson-illinois/ The Nation April 1, 2020 July 15, 2009(McKeever, p. 126) Stevenson's strong performance in the gubernatorial election and Democratic nominee Paul Douglas' strong performance in the 1948 United States Senate election in Illinois were regarded as having helped the Democratic ticket of Harry S. Truman and Alben W. Barkley secure their narrow victory in Illinois in the 1948 United States presidential election.Hartley Robert E. Battleground 1948 : Truman, Stevenson, Douglas, and the Most Surprising Election in Illinois History. 2013 Southern Illinois University Press Carbondale 978-0809332663 Democratic primary Campaign Adlai Stevenson II was chosen by Jacob Arvey, leader of the powerful Cook County Democratic Party organization, to the Democratic candidate in the Illinois gubernatorial race against the incumbent Republican governor, Dwight H. Green.(McKeever, pp. 107–114)Stevenson, Adlai E. II McLean County Museum of History https://mchistory.org/research/biographies/stevenson-adlai-e-ii December 22, 2020 While Stevenson had a preference for a role that would see him involved in national politics, such as being a United States senator, the path for him to run for senate would have been difficult, while Arvey was offering him a clear path to be elected governor. Stevenson launched his campaign with a speech to the McLean County Democrats Jackson Day dinner in his hometown of Bloomington on February 23, 1948. He made clear that, rather than seeking out the office himself, he had been drafted by the Democratic State Central Committee, who had asked him to be their gubernatorial candidate due to his "record in private life," and, "public service in the war and the peace," and their confidence he would win and, that as governor would be, "a credit," to the Democratic party. Stevenson, in launching his campaign, pledged to clean up Illinois politics, which had been plagued by corruption and scandal. Part of his appeal as a candidate in the year 1948 was that he lacked ties to the state's "politics as usual". Stevenson ultimately faced no opponents on the ballot in the primary. Results Gubernatorial Democratic primaryIllinois Blue Book 1947–1948 Illinois Secretary of State 747 http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/bb/id/8271 March 29, 2020 Democratic Party (United States) Adlai E. Stevenson 578,390 100 578,390 100 Republican primary Incumbent governor Dwight H. Green ultimately faced no opponents on the ballot. Gubernatorial Republican primary Republican Party (United States) Dwight H. Green (incumbent) 744,348 100 12 0.00 744360 100 General election With little fodder to attack Stevenson with, Green instead sought to tie him to the national Democratic Party, headed by president Harry S. Truman, and to national scandals, as well as the large spending New Deal programs. He also sought to paint Stevenson as weak toward communism. Stevenson had plenty of fodder to attack Green and Green's policies. Green had failed to live up to his original gubernatorial campaign promise to run an "anticorruption administration". Green's administration had faced allegations of ties to gangsters like the Shelton Brothers Gang. The 1947 Centralia mine disaster also greatly harmed the image of Green's gubernatorial administration, as state mine inspectors had received payoffs from coal companies to ignore violations during safety inspections. Stevenson made use of his oratory skill, delivering harsh one-liners against Green. Result Gubernatorial electionIllinois Blue Book 1949-1950 Illinois Secretary of State 745–46, 785 http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bb/id/10866 March 29, 2020 Democratic Party (United States) Adlai E. Stevenson 2,250,074 57.11 Republican Party (United States) Dwight H. Green (incumbent) 1,678,007 42.59 Prohibition Party Willis Ray Wilson 9,491 0.24 Socialist Labor Party (United States) Louis Fisher 2,673 0.07 12 0.00 3,940,257 100 References Further reading Porter McKeever 1989 Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy William Morrow and Company New York 978-0-688-06661-1 registration https://archive.org/details/adlaistevensonhi00mcke Category:Illinois gubernatorial elections Illinois Gubernatorial Category:Adlai Stevenson II