1976 Illinois gubernatorial election

Gubernatorial elections were held in Illinois on November 2, 1976.[1] Incumbent Governor Dan Walker lost renomination in favor of Secretary of State Michael J. Howlett, who was a Daley ally. Howlett then lost the general election to Republican James R. Thompson.

November 2, 1976

Turnout

74.18%


Nominee	James R. Thompson	Michael J. Howlett
Party	Republican	Democratic
Running mate	David C. O'Neal	Neil Hartigan
Popular vote	3,000,395	1,610,258
Percentage	64.68%	34.71%

County Results

Thompson: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%

Howlett: 50–60%

Governor before election

Dan Walker
Democratic

Elected Governor

James R. Thompson
Republican

Elections in Illinois

Federal government

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State government

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Election information

This election was for a two-year term which would synchronize future gubernatorial elections with midterm election years, rather than presidential election years, as the 1970 Constitution of Illinois required gubernatorial elections to be held in midterm election years starting in 1978.[2] The previous election had been in 1976.

The primaries (held on March 16) and general eleciton coincided with those for federal offices (United States President and House) and those for other state offices.[1] The election was part of the 1976 Illinois elections.

Turnout

Turnout in the primaries saw 38.79% in the gubernatorial primaries, with a total of 2,231,910 votes cast, and 33.89% in the lieutenant gubernatorial primary, with 1,949,469 votes cast.[1]

Turnout during the general election was 74.18%, with 4,639,010 votes cast.[1]

Democratic primary

Governor

The incumbent Governor, Dan Walker, had a contentious relationship with the Daley Machine, which backed Secretary of State Michael J. Howlett. Walker carried most of the state's counties, but Howlett carried Cook county by a wide margin and was ultimately nominated.

Dark Blue denotes a county carried by Howlett, and Light Blue by Walker.

1976 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Illinois[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett	811,721	53.82
	Democratic	Dan Walker (incumbent)	696,380	46.17
	Write-in	Others	245	0.02	n-a
Majority			115,341	7.65
Turnout			1,508,346

Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Neil Hartigan was renominated, defeating Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago commissioner Joanne H. Alter.

Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Neil F. Hartigan (incumbent)	857,910	66.29
	Democratic	Joanne H. Alter	436,322	33.71
	Write-in	Others	29	0.00
Total votes			1,294,232	100

Republican primary

Governor

Thompson won the Republican Primary in a landslide, carrying every county.

1976 Republican gubernatorial primary, Illinois[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James R. Thompson	625,457	86.44
	Republican	Richard H. Cooper	97,937	13.54
	Republican	write-ins	170	0.02	n-a
Majority			527,484	29.97
Turnout			723,564

Lieutenant Governor

Dave O'Neal won the Republican primary, defeating Joan G. Anderson.

Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David C. O'Neal	376,126	57.40
	Republican	Joan G. Anderson	279,087	42.59
	Write-in	Others	24	0.00
Total votes			655,237	100

General election

Thompson joins President Gerald Ford on a whistle stop in Springfield

1976 gubernatorial election, Illinois[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	James R. Thompson/Dave O'Neal	3,000,365	64.68
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett/Neil F. Hartigan	1,610,258	34.71
	Communist	Ishmael Flory/Linda R. Appelhans	10,091	0.22
	Libertarian	F. Joseph McCaffrey/Georgia E. Shields	7,552	0.16
	Socialist Workers	Suzanne Haig/Dennis Brasky	4,926	0.11
	Socialist Labor	George LaForest/Stanley A. Prorok	3,147	0.07
	U.S. Labor	Edward Waffle/Peter Matni	2,302	0.05
	Write-in	Others	369	0.01	n-a
Majority			1,390,137	29.97
Turnout			4,639,010
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

References

"OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1976 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 16, 1976" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
w. "Illinois Constitution – Article V". Ilga.gov. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

(1974 ←) 1976 United States elections (→ 1978)
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Elections in Illinois
By year	1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1998 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Presidential	1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 (Dem primary, Rep primary) 2012 2016 (Dem primary) 2020 (Dem primary)
U.S. Senate	1885 1962 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1980 1984 1986 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 2020
U.S. House	2000 (1st) 2006 2008 2010 (17th) 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Special	2nd Congressional, 1995 14th Congressional, 2008 5th Congressional, 2009 2nd Congressional, 2013 18th Congressional, 2015 Comptroller, 2016
Gubernatorial	1818 1822 1826 1830 1834 1838 1842 1846 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1904 1908 1912 1916 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
State Senate	2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
State House	2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
State judicial	1948 1960 1962 2014 2016 2018 2020
Chicago mayoral	1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 (Mar) 1844 (Apr) 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1876 (Apr) 1876 (Jul) 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 (Apr) 1893 (Dec) 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1977 1979 1983 1987 1989 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Chicago City Council	1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Cicero municipal	1924
Cook County	1946 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Peoria municipal	1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

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