1982 Illinois elections explained

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1982.

Primaries were held on March 16.

Election information

1982 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Amid the ongoing recession and resultant unpopularity of incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan, Democrats made significant gains in the national elections for the United States House of Representatives and in the gubernatorial elections.^{[1] [2] [3]} In Illinois, Democrats made gains in the House of Representatives elections. Democrats also managed to flip control of the office of Illinois Attorney General. While the election was incredibly close, Republican James R. Thompson managed to retain his governorship.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 27.38%, with a total of 1,622,410 ballots cast.^[4] 949,426 Democratic and 672,984 Republican primary ballots were cast.^[5]

Turnout during the general election was 64.65%, with 3,856,875 ballots cast.^[4]

Convictions for fraud

There were "62 indictments and 58 convictions, many involving precinct captains and election officials. The grand jury concluded that 100,000 fraudulent votes had been cast in the city ... Authorities found massive fraud involving vote buying and ballots cast by others in the names of registered voters. In one case, a ballot punched for the Democratic slate had been tabulated 198 times."^[6] The case was prosecuted in November 1982 by US Attorney Dan K. Webb.^{[7] [8] [9]}

The gubernatorial election result has been questioned. Some Democrats have alleged that fraud might have been committed by Republicans in areas outside Chicago to secure Thompson his victory.^[7] In 2016, Rudy Giuliani suggested that the gubernatorial results had been fraudulent on the part of Chicago Democrats.^[10]

In January 1983, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a petition by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Adlai Stevenson III for a full statewide recount, with the majority opinion finding there to be insufficient evidence of either mistakes, fraud, or irregularities to warrant a recount^[11]

Federal elections

United States House

See also: 1982 United States House of Representatives elections.

Illinois had lost two congressional districts (the 23rd and 24th) in reapportionment following the 1980 United States census. All 22 of Illinois' remaining seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1982

Before the election, there were 14 Republican and 10 Democratic seats. In 1982, 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans were elected from Illinois.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

See main article: 1982 Illinois gubernatorial election.

Incumbent Governor James R. Thompson, a Republican, narrowly won reelection to a third term, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson III by merely 5,074 votes. George Ryan joined Thompson on the Republican ticket, and won a first term as Lieutenant Governor.

The election was surprisingly close, as, before the election, Thompson had been favored by polls and predictions to win by roughly twenty percentage points.^[13]

Attorney General

Incumbent Attorney General Tyrone C. Fahner, a Republican appointed in 1980, lost reelection to Democrat Neil Hartigan.

General election

Secretary of State

Incumbent Secretary of State Jim Edgar, a Republican first appointed in 1981, was elected to a full term.

General election

Comptroller

Incumbent Comptroller Roland Burris, a Democrat, won reelection to a second term.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Roland Burris won renomination unopposed.

Republican primary

Former State Representative Calvin Skinner won the Republican primary unopposed.

General election

Treasurer

Incumbent Treasurer Jerome Cosentino, a Democrat, did not run for a second term, instead opting to run for Secretary of State. Democrat James Donnewald was elected to succeed him in office.

General election

State Senate

As this was the first election after a redistricting, all of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1982. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1982. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.

The election saw the reelection incumbentsWilliam D. Forsyth Jr. and George W. Howard, III and the election of new trustee Albert N. Logan Jr.

Incumbent second-term Democrat Earl L. Langdon was not renominated.

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1982.

Ballot measure

Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1982.^[14] In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.^[14]

Bail Amendment

Voters approved the Bail Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1"), a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Illinois to expand the population that could be denied bail to include those who committed an offense that could result in a life imprisonment sentence.^{[14] [15]}

Bail Amendment
Option	Votes	% of votes on referendum	% of all ballots cast
text align=center	Yes	text align=center	1,389,796	text align=center	85.31	text align=center	36.03
text align=center	No	text align=center	239,380	text align=center	14.69	text align=center	6.21
text align=center	Total votes	text align=center	1,629,176	text align=center	100	text align=center	42.24
	Voter turnout	colspan=3 text align=right	27.31%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

Notes and References

1. Web site: How High the Wave? Don't Just Think 1994; Think 1974, 1958, 1982 News & Analysis Inside Elections . insideelections.com . Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales . 3 July 2020 . 26 October 2006.
2. Web site: Media definitions of a wave election . Ballotpedia .
3. Web site: Was it a wave election? Depends on your data set . NBC News . November 25, 2018 . 3 July 2020 .
4. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 6, 1984 . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 24 April 2020 .
5. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 16, 1982 . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 27 April 2020 .
6. Web site: Despite Trump claim, officials say technology means vote fraud thing of past. Chicago Tribune. October 19, 2016 .
7. Web site: Election fraud Chicago style: Illinois' decades-old notoriety for election corruption is legendary . Salon . 27 March 2020 . 14 February 2016.
8. Web site: Report of the Special January 1982 Grand Jury . United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division . December 14, 1984.
9. Web site: WEBB ASKS PRIMARY VOTE FRAUD PROBE . Chicago Tribune . 1987-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240828155102/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/03/11/webb-asks-primary-vote-fraud-probe/ . 2024-08-28 . live . 2024-08-28.
10. Web site: Official: Chicago legacy of voter fraud has been cleaned up . HeraldNet.com . 27 March 2020 . 19 October 2016.
11. Web site: DEMOCRATS GIVE UP ILLINOIS CAMPAIGN . The New York Times . 25 February 2022 . 8 January 1983.
12. Web site: OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982 . www.elections.il.gov . Illinois State Board of Elections . 27 April 2020 .
13. Web site: Stevenson Looking Forward to a Recount in Illinois . The New York Times . 27 March 2020 . 21 November 1982.
14. Web site: Illinois Constitution – Amendments Proposed . www.ilga.gov . Illinois General Assembly . 26 March 2020.
15. Web site: Illinois Bail Amendment (1982) . Ballotpedia . 29 March 2020 .