1986 Illinois gubernatorial election

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal offices (Senate and House), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 1986 Illinois elections.

The primaries saw turnout of 21.10% in the gubernatorial primaries, with 1,289,162 votes cast, and turnout of 18.01% in the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries, with 1,100,110 votes cast.

Turnout during the general election was 52.37%, with 3,143,978 votes cast.

Democratic primary

Adlai Stevenson III won a comfortable victory in the primary over perennial candidate Larry Burgess. Originally, Attorney General Neil Hartigan had declared himself a candidate for governor. However, soon after Stevenson announced his intention to run as well, Hartigan opted to run for reelection as Illinois Attorney General instead.

As a result of Stevenson's primary victory, the 1986 election was a rematch of the 1982 election, which had been narrowly won by Thompson over Adlai Stevenson III by about 5,000 votes out of over 3.5 million votes cast. However, Stevenson's efforts were largely derailed in the primary when the candidates he supported for Lieutenant Governor (George Sangmeister) and Secretary of State (Aurelia Pucinski) were both upset by Mark J. Fairchild and Janice Hart.

While not heavily publicized during the primaries, Fairchild and Hart were followers of the controversial Lyndon LaRouche. When this became public knowledge after the primaries, Stevenson was forced to abandon his Democratic Party nomination and run as a third-party candidate. As of 2024, this remains the last time a third party candidate finished in the top two in the Illinois governor's race.

Stevenson made it clear right after learning his running mate was to be a LaRouche supporter that he would "never run on a ticket with candidates who espouse the hate-filled folly of Lyndon LaRouche".

Governor

Candidates

• Adlai Stevenson III, former U.S. Senator from Illinois (1970–1981), former treasurer of Illinois (1967–1970), and Democratic nominee for governor in 1982
• Larry Burgess, perennial candidate

Withdrew

• Neil Hartigan, incumbent attorney general of Illinois (1983–1991) and former lieutenant governor of Illinois (1973–1977) (endorsed Stevenson, successfully ran for reelection as attorney general)

Republican primary

Governor

Incumbent James R. Thompson defeated his sole challenger, Peter Bowen.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent George Ryan won the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, running unopposed.

Third-party nominations

Adlai Stevenson III's newly-formed Illinois Solidarity Party nominated him for governor. Mike Howlett, an associate judge on the Cook County Circuit Court and son of former Illinois Secretary of State Michael Howlett, was nominated for lieutenant governor. Stevenson opted to avoid having his ticket spoiling the performance of non-LaRouche affiliated Democratic nominees for statewide office by having political unknowns nominated on his Solidarity slate for all offices except lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

The Libertarian Party nominated Gary L. Shilts for governor and Gerry Walsh for lieutenant governor.

The Socialist Workers Party nominated Diane Roling for governor and Jim Little for lieutenant governor.

Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, a strong supporter of Stevenson's candidacy, worked to combat an attempt by a Black activist to collect signatures for a third-party slate of Black candidates for statewide office, which was seen as likely to threaten Stevenson in a general election by dividing the Black vote.

General election

Thompson's reelection campaign received the backing of incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan.

References

References

1. (August 2024). "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH 18, 1986". Illinois Secretary of State.
2. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986". Illinois State Board of Elections.
3. (8 December 1985). "RYAN FIGHTS HISTORY IN CAMPAIGN". Chicago Tribune.
4. (30 October 1986). "CAREY FIGHTS HARTIGAN'S LEAD IN ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTEST". Chicago Tribune.
5. Malcolm, Andrew H.. (20 March 1986). "2 CONSERVATIVE EXTREMISTS UPSET DEMOCRATS IN THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY". New York Times.
6. (20 March 1986). "Two LaRouche Illinois Victories Stun Democrats". L.A. Times.
7. "Election Names".
8. (31 July 1986). "STEVENSON IN FILING LINE BEHIND MINOR PARTIES". Chicago Tribune.
9. (12 August 1986). "IN ILLINOIS, STEVENSON MAKES IT A RACE".