1968 Illinois elections

In the primary, 1,573,173 ballots were cast (833,498 Democrat and 739,675 Republican).[1]

In the general election, roughly 4.7 million ballots were cast.[2]

Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.

Incumbent Senator Everett M. Dirksen, a Republican, won reelection to a fourth term.

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1968.

1968 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Richard B. Ogilvie Samuel H. Shapiro Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,307,295 2,179,501 Percentage 51.2% 48.4%

County Results Ogilvie:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Shapiro:      40–50%      50–60%

Governor before election Samuel H. Shapiro Democratic Elected Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Republican

Incumbent Democratic Governor Samuel H. Shapiro, lost reelection to Republican Richard B. Ogilvie.

1968 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Paul Simon Robert A. Dwyer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,222,331 2,125,910 Percentage 50.87% 48.67%

Lieutenant Governor before election Vacant Elected Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon Democratic

Democrat Paul Simon won election to serve as Lieutenant Governor.

This was the only time in Illinois history that the state had the elected a governor and a lieutenant governor from different political parties (there were, however, instances in Illinois where an appointed lieutenant governor had been of a different political party than the governor).

Due to changes implemented by the passage of the 1970 Constitution of Illinois, in all subsequent elections, gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates have been jointly elected on a ticket. Therefore, this was the last Illinois election held for the sole purpose of electing a lieutenant governor.

1968 Illinois Attorney General election

November 5, 1968

Nominee William J. Scott Francis S. Lorenz Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,898,198 2,322,572 Percentage 52.71% 46.89%

Attorney General before election William G. Clark Democratic Elected Attorney General William J. Scott Republican

Incumbent Attorney General William G. Clark, a Democrat, did not seek a third term. Republican William J. Scott was elected to succeed him.

1968 Illinois Secretary of State election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Paul Powell Donald D. Carpentier Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,278,868 2,173,839 Percentage 50.94% 48.59%

Secretary of State before election Paul Powell Democratic Elected Secretary of State Paul Powell Democratic

Incumbent Secretary of State Paul Powell, a Democrat, was reelected to a second term.

1968 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election

November 3, 1968

Nominee Michael Howlett William C. Harris Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,215,401 2,106,676 Percentage 50.99% 48.49%

Auditor of Public Accounts before election Michael Howlett Democratic Elected Auditor of Public Accounts Michael Howlett Democratic

Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Michael Howlett, a Democrat, was reelected to a third term.

1968 Clerk of the Supreme Court election

November 5, 1968

Nominee Justin Taft Fannie G. Jones Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,286,086 2,032,768 Percentage 52.68% 46.84%

Clerk before election Cleli Woods Elected Clerk Justin Taft Republican

The Clerk of the Supreme Court was Cleli Woods, who took office after the death in office of Lula Searcy earlier in 1968. Before her death, Searcy had been unseated in the Republican primary by Justin Taft, who went on to win the general election.

The 1970 Constitution of Illinois made it so that the office would become an appointive office by 1975, thus rendering the 1968 election the last instance in which an election was held for this office.

Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

An at-large election using cumulative voting was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.

The election saw the reelection of incumbents Timothy W. Swain and Earl M. Hughes and the election of new member Russell W. "Ruck" Steger.[9]

Judicial elections were held, including two elections to fill vacancies on the Illinois Appellate Court.[8]

In order to be placed on the ballot, proposed legislatively referred constitutional amendments needed to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the Illinois General Assembly.[10] In order to be approved, they required a majority of all those who voted in the 1968 Illinois elections[10] or two thirds of those voting specifically on the measure.

A call for a constitutional convention needed a majority of votes to pass.

Illinois Banking Act was approved by voters as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.[11] It enabled Illinois state banks to have foreign branches.[11]

Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act, was approved by voters as a legislatively referred bond question.[12] It approved a $1 billion bond act for the development of natural resources.[12]

In 1968, voters were presented with a referendum on whether or not to call a constitutional convention.[2][13] This was the first such vote held in the State of Illinois since 1934.[13] The chief sponsor of the legislation which created this ballot measure was Senate Republican leader W. Russell Arrington.[14] Democratic Governor Otto Kerner Jr. was supportive of holding a constitutional convention.[14]

A constitutional convention was subsequently held, and the resulting Constitution of Illinois approved by Illinois voters in a 1970 special election.[13]