1998 United States Senate election in Illinois

The 1998 United States Senate election in Illinois was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun decided to run for re-election, despite the number of controversies that she had in her first term. Republican State Senator Peter Fitzgerald won his party's primary with a slim margin of victory.

1998 United States Senate election in Illinois
November 3, 1998
Turnout50.25%
 
Nominee Peter Fitzgerald Carol Moseley Braun
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,709,042 1,610,496
Percentage 50.4% 47.4%
County results
Fitzgerald:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Braun:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Carol Moseley Braun
Democratic

 Elected U.S. Senator

Peter Fitzgerald
Republican

Elections in Illinois

Fitzgerald won with a margin of victory of approximately 3%. He won all but five counties, and became the only Republican Senate candidate to defeat a Democratic incumbent in 1998.

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for House and as those for state offices.

Turnout

For the primary elections, turnout was 20.55%, with 1,386,694 votes cast.[1][2] For the general election, turnout was 50.25%, with 3,394,521 votes cast.[2][3]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results
Democratic primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent) 666,419 100.00%
Total votes 666,419 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results
Republican primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Peter Fitzgerald 372,916 51.83%
Republican Loleta Didrickson 346,606 48.17%
Total votes 719,522 100.00%

Reform primary

Candidates
  • Steve Denarie
  • Don A. Torgersen

Results
Reform primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Reform Don A. Torgersen 403 53.52%
Reform Steve Denari 350 46.48%
Total votes 753 100.00%

General election

Campaign

During Moseley Braun's first term as U.S. Senator, she was plagued by several major controversies. Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Elections Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted-for campaign funds. The agency found some small violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS.[4]

In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. Despite U.S. sanctions against that country, due to Abacha's actions, the Senator did not notify, nor register her trip with, the State Department. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress.[5]

Peter Fitzgerald, a State Senator, won the Republican primary, defeating Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson with 51.8% of the vote, to Didrickson's 48.2%.[6] Fitzgerald spent nearly $7 million in the Republican primary.[7] He had a major financial advantage, as he was a multimillionaire. He ended up spending $12 million in his election victory.[8]

In September, Moseley Braun created controversy again by using the word "nigger" to describe how she claims to be a victim of racism.[8]

Most polls over the first few months showed Moseley-Braun trailing badly. However, after she was helped in the final month by notable Democrats such as First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, three polls published in the last week showed her within the margin of error, and, in one poll, running even with Fitzgerald.[9]

Results

The incumbent Moseley Braun was narrowly defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Moseley Braun only won five of Illinois's 102 counties. Despite this, the race was kept close by Moseley running up massive margins in Cook County, home of Chicago. However it wasn't quite enough to win. Fitzgerald would only serve one term in the senate. Fitzgerald initially intended to run for a second term.

However, after many Republicans and Democrats announced their intentions to run, Fitzgerald decided to retire. Fitzgerald would serve from January 3, 1999 to January 3, 2005. On January 3, 2005, Fitzgerald was replaced by Democrat Barack Obama.

[10]

1998 United States Senate election in Illinois[2][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Peter Fitzgerald 1,709,041 50.35% +7.4%
Democratic Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent) 1,610,496 47.44% -5.6%
Reform Don Torgersen 74,704 2.20% N/A
US Taxpayers Raymond Stalker 280 0.01% N/A
Total votes 3,394,521 100.00% N/A
Republican gain from Democratic
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See also

References
  1. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. Slate, Is Carol Moseley-Braun a Crook?", February 19, 2003
  5. NPR, "2004 Democratic Presidential Candidates: Carol Moseley Braun", Npr.org, May 6, 2003
  6. Election Results: General Primary - 3/17/1998, Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  7. "Moseley-Braun's Rich Foe May Be Surprisingly Strong". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. March 19, 1998. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  8. "Archives: Chicago Tribune - Senator Apologizes For Epithet Moseley-Braun Uses Slur In Calling Columnist Racist". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. September 8, 1998. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  9. Belluck, Pam (November 3, 1998). "THE 1998 CAMPAIGN - ILLINOIS - Moseley-Braun, Trailing, Pushes Hard". Illinois: Nytimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  10. =GE&ElectionID=11&SearchType =OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1305&QueryType =Office& Illinois State Board of Elections Ballots Cast for U.S. Senator 11/3/1998 Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  11. Pear, Robert (November 4, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTIONS - STATE BY STATE - MIDWEST - ILLINOIS". Illinois: Nytimes.com. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
Elections in Illinois
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