1954 Illinois elections

1954 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election
	November 2, 1954
	November 2, 1954
Turnout	61.81%[1][3]
Superintendent before election; Vernon L. Nickell; Republican	Elected Superintendent ; Vernon L. Nickell; Republican

1954 Illinois State Treasurer election
	November 2, 1954
	November 2, 1954
Turnout	61.91%[1][3]
Treasurer before election; Elmer J. Hoffman; Republican	Elected Treasurer ; William J. Scott; Republican

1954 Illinois elections
	November 2, 1954
	November 2, 1954
Turnout	65.34%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1954.[1]

Primaries were held April 13, 1954.[1]

Election information

1954 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

In the primary election, turnout was 32.06% with 1,695,491 ballots cast (957,042 Democratic and 738,449 Republican).[1][2]

In the general election, turnout was 65.34% with 3,455,173 ballots cast.[1][3]

Federal elections

United States Senate

Democratic Senator Paul Douglas was reelected to a second term.

United States House

All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1954.

Democrats flipped three Republican-held seats, leaving the Illinois House delegation to consist of 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

State elections

Treasurer

Incumbent first-term Treasurer, Republican Elmer J. Hoffman, did not seek reelection. Republican Warren Wright, a former one-term holder of the office, was elected to succeed him.

This was the final Illinois Treasurer election to a two-year term, as voters also approved a a constitutional amendment which extended term length to four-years beginning in the following election.

Democratic primary

Treasurer Democratic primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David F. Mallett	531,647	100
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			531,649	100

Republican primary

Former Illinois Treasurer Warren Wright won the Republican primary. He defeated fellow former Illinois Treasurer Conrad F. Becker, as well as Robert J. Branson.

Treasurer Republican primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	329,565	42.40
	Republican	Conrad F. Becker	256,308	32.98
	Republican	Robert J. Branson	191,417	24.63
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			777,291	100

General election

Treasurer election[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	1,641,272	50.14
	Democratic	David F. Mallett	1,632,331	49.86
Total votes			3,273,603	100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Vernon L. Nickell, a Republican, was elected to a fourth term.

Democratic primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark A. Peterman	523,876	100
Total votes			523,876	100

Republican primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent)	701,257	100
	Write-in	Others	9	0.00
Total votes			701,266	100

General election

Superintendent of Public Instruction election[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent)	1,653,174	50.58
	Democratic	Mark A. Peterman	1,615,325	49.42
	Write-in	Others	12
Total votes			3,268,511	100

State Senate

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1954. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1954. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1954 Trustees of University of Illinois election

November 2, 1954

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

The election saw the reelection of Democrat former member Kenney E. Williamson (who previously had served one full term and a partial term), and first-term Democratic incumbents George Wirt Herrick, Frances Best Watkins.[1][4]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kenney E. Williamson	1,683,790½	17.45
	Democratic	George Wirt Herrick (incumbent)	1,672,794½	17.34
	Democratic	Frances Best Watkins (incumbent)	1,648,798½	17.09
	Republican	Dr. Ralph H. Kunstadter	1,582,397½	16.40
	Republican	Vernon L. Heath	1,562,347	16.19
	Republican	Maurice Gantzert	1,498,812½	15.53
Total votes			9,648,943	100

Judicial elections

Supreme Court

Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District

A judicial election was held on June 7, 1954 for the Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District. Republican Joseph E. Daily was unopposed.

Fifth Supreme Court Judicial District[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph E. Daily (incumbent)	985	99.90
	Others	Others	1	0.10
Total votes			986	100

Lower courts

On November 2, 1954, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Ballot measures

Three ballot measures were put before voters in 1954. One was a legislatively referred state statute and two were a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.

In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute.[1] 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.[5] In order to be approved, they required approval of either two-thirds of those voting on the amendment itself or a majority of all ballots cast in the general elections.[1]

Amendment to Illinois Michigan Canal

Amendment to Illinois Michigan Canal was approved.

Amendment to Illinois Michigan Canal[1][3]
Candidate	Votes	%
Yes	2,011,134	79.34
No	523,572	20.66
Total votes	2,534,706	100
Voter turnout	47.93%

Legislative Apportionment

Legislative Apportionment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Sections 6, 7, and 8 of Article IV of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois was approved by voters.[1]

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[6][7]

Legislative Apportionment[1][3]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,085,224	79.87	60.35
No	525,502	20.13	15.21
Total votes	2,610,726	100	75.56
Voter turnout	49.37%

State Treasurer Amendment

State Treasurer Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Sections 1, 2, and 3 of Article IV of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois was approved by voters.[1] Among its changes was, beginning with the 1956 election, making the term of the State Treasurer be expanded from two to four years.

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[8][7]

State Treasurer Amendment[1][3]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,024,483	79.21	58.59
No	531,318	20.79	15.38
Total votes	2,555,801	100	73.97
Voter turnout	48.33%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

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References

"OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 2, 1954 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1953, 1954 SPECIAL ELECTION, 1953 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 13, 1954" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
"OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 16, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
"OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
"Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
1870 Illinois Constituton Article XIV
"Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
1870 Illinois Constituton Article XIV

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[results-1] "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 2, 1954 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1953, 1954 SPECIAL ELECTION, 1953 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 13, 1954" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 7 July 2020.

[2] "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 16, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 July 2020.

[1982GE-3] "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 July 2020.

[ui1-4] "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

[5] Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2

[6] 1870 Illinois Constituton Article XIV

[IROCOA-7] "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

[8] 1870 Illinois Constituton Article XIV

Elections in Illinois
By year	1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1969 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 1956 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	1942 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