2002 Illinois gubernatorial election

The 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor George Ryan, who was plagued by scandal, did not run for a second term. Democrat Rod Blagojevich, a U.S. Congressman, ran against Republican Jim Ryan (no relation to the incumbent), the Illinois Attorney General. Blagojevich won 52% to 45%, becoming the first Democratic governor of Illinois since 1972.

2002 Illinois gubernatorial election
November 5, 2002
Turnout50.05% 0.33 pp
 
Nominee Rod Blagojevich Jim Ryan
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Pat Quinn Carl Hawkinson
Popular vote 1,847,040 1,594,961
Percentage 52.2% 45.1%
County results
Blagojevich:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Ryan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

George Ryan
Republican

 Elected Governor

Rod Blagojevich
Democratic

Elections in Illinois

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (Senate and House), as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 2002 Illinois elections.

Turnout
See also: 2002 Illinois elections § Turnout

For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 30.81%, with 2,170,344 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 26.99% with 1,908,564 votes cast.[1][2] For the general election, turnout was 50.05%, with 3,538,891 votes cast.[1][2]

Democratic primaries

Governor

Candidates

Results

The Democratic primary was a very close 3-way race. Blagojevich prevailed by just 25,469 votes, and just by 2.03%. Vallas did very well in the Chicago suburbs, and narrowly defeated Burris in Cook County, the most populous county in the state. Vallas led early on in the night with Burris in second and Blagojevich in third. Vallas had won probably the most vital county, Cook County. For Blagojevich to beat both opponents, he had to run the board through the rest of Illinois. Blagojevich won almost all of the state's rural counties. Eventually, Cook County had reported all of its votes, with a slight advantage for Vallas over Burris. However many votes were still left to be counted in other cities outside the Chicago area. Blagojevich managed to pull out a narrow victory by winning in Champaign County, home of Champaign. Blagojevich also did well in Sangamon County home to the state's capital, Springfield. Blagojevich also won St. Clair County home of East St. Louis. In the early morning the day after the election, Vallas realized that with all of Cook County's votes counted he had lost. At 4:18 in the morning, Vallas called Blagojevich and congratulated him, and pledged Blagojevich his full support for the general election.

County results
Democratic gubernatorial primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rod Blagojevich 457,197 36.50
Democratic Paul Vallas 431,728 34.47
Democratic Roland Burris 363,591 29.03
Total votes 1,252,516 100.00

Lieutenant governor

Candidates
  • F. Michael Kelleher, Jr.
  • Pat Quinn, former Treasurer of Illinois and candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1998
  • Joyce Washington

Results
Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pat Quinn 471,038 42.11
Democratic Joyce W. Washington 362,902 32.35
Democratic F. Michael Kelleher, Jr. 284,549 25.44
Total votes 1,118,489 100.00

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

Results
Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jim Ryan 410,074 44.68
Republican Patrick O'Malley 260,860 28.42
Republican Corrine Wood 246,825 26.89
Republican Write-ins 69 0.01
Total votes 917,828 100.00

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Results
Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Carl Hawkinson 373,040 47.22
Republican William A. O'Connor 257,375 32.58
Republican Jack J. McInerney 90,571 11.46
Republican Charles G. Owens 69,089 8.74
Total votes 790,075 100.00

General election

Campaign

In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan by a solid margin. Ethics scandals had plagued the administration of incumbent Republican George Ryan, who was of no relation to Jim Ryan, and Blagojevich's campaign focused on the theme of "ending business as usual" in state government. During the campaign, Blagojevich played on the name of his opponent by asking "How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change? You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich."[4]

Results

Although the election was thought to be a close one early on in the campaign, Blagojevich's big numbers out of Cook County were too much for the Republicans to come back from.

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2002 Illinois gubernatorial election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Rod Blagojevich 1,847,040 52.19% +4.73%
Republican Jim Ryan 1,594,961 45.07% -5.96%
Libertarian Cal Skinner 73,794 2.09% N/A
Independent Marisellis Brown 23,089 0.65% N/A
Write-in Peter Dale Kauss 8 0.00% N/A
Total votes 3,538,891 100.00% N/A
Democratic gain from Republican
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See also
  • Electoral history of Rod Blagojevich

References
  1. "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. "Ballots Cast". Illinois State Board of Elections. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. Lin, Joanna (December 10, 2008). "He campaigned as a reformer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  5. "Election Results". Illinois State Board of Elections. 5 November 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
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