1962 Illinois elections

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 6, 1962.[1]

1962 Illinois elections

November 6, 1962
Turnout	74.67%

Primaries were held April 10, 1962.[1][2]

Election information

1962 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

In the primary election, turnout was 38.76% with 2,109,975 ballots cast (1,171,443 Democratic and 938,532 Republican).[1][2][3]

In the general election, turnout was 74.67% with 3,812,120 ballots cast.[1][3][4]

Federal elections

United States Senate

Main article: 1962 United States Senate election in Illinois

See also: 1962 United States Senate elections

Incumbent Republican Everett M. Dirksen won reelection to a third term

United States House

See also: 1962 United States House of Representatives elections

Illinois had redistricted. It had lost one congressional seat as a result of reapportionment following the 1960 United States Census. The remaining 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1962.

Before the election, Illinois had 14 Democratic seats and 11 Republican seats. In 1962, 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans were elected in Illinois.

State elections

Treasurer

1962 Illinois State Treasurer election

November 6, 1962
Turnout	70.67%[1][3]
Nominee William J. Scott Francis S. Lorenz Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,831,925 1,776,090 Percentage 50.77% 49.23%
Treasurer before election Francis S. Lorenz Democratic Elected Treasurer William J. Scott Republican

Incumbent Treasurer Francis S. Lorenz, a Democrat appointed in 1961, lost reelection to Republican William J. Scott.

Democratic primary

Treasurer Democratic primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Francis S. Lorenz (incumbent)	836,185	100
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			836,186	100

Republican primary

Treasurer Republican primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Scott	335,095	42.30
	Republican	Walter J. Reum	302,718	38.21
	Republican	Maurice W. Coburn	154,449	19.50
Total votes			792,262	100

General election

Treasurer election[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Scott	1,831,925	50.77
	Democratic	Francis S. Lorenz (incumbent)	1,776,090	49.23
Total votes			3,608,015	100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

1962 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election

November 6, 1962
Turnout	70.25%[1][3]
Nominee Ray Page George T. Wilkins Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,812,671 1,773,758 Percentage 50.54% 49.46%
Superintendent before election George T. Wilkins Democratic Elected Superintendent Ray Page Republican

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction George T. Wilkins, a Democrat seeking a second term, was defeated by Republican Ray Page.

Democratic primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George T. Wilkins (incumbent)	722,759	100
	Write-in	Others	2	0.0
Total votes			722,761	100

Republican primary

Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ray Page	466,195	61.12
	Republican	Louis Bottino	296,594	38.88
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			762,792	100

General election

Superintendent of Public Instruction election[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ray Page	1,812,671	50.54
	Democratic	George T. Wilkins (incumbent)	1,773,758	49.46
Total votes			3,586,429	100

Clerk of the Supreme Court

1962 Clerk of the Supreme Court election

November 6, 1962
Turnout	69.84%[1][3]
Nominee Lula Searcy James P. Alexander Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,824,126 1,741,010 Percentage 51.17% 48.83%
Clerk before election Lula Searcy Republican Elected Clerk Lula Searcy Republican

Incumbent Clerk of the Supreme Court Lula Searcy, a Republican appointed after the death in office of her husband Earle Benjamin Searcy, won reelection to a first full term.

Instead of being listed by her own name, Searcy opted to be listed on the ballot in both the primary and general election as "Ms. Earle Benjamin Searcy".[1][2][4]

Democratic primary

Clerk of the Supreme Court Democratic primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James P. Alexander	811,361	100
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			811,361	100

Republican primary

Clerk of the Supreme Court Republican primary[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lula Searcy (incumbent)	709,069
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			709,072	100

General election

Clerk of the Supreme Court election[1][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lula Searcy (incumbent)	1,824,126	51.17
	Democratic	James P. Alexander	1,741,010	48.83
Total votes			3,565,136	100

State Senate

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1962. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1962. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1962 Trustees of University of Illinois election

November 6, 1962

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

The election saw the reelection of incumbent second-term Republican Wayne A. Johnston, first-term Republican Earl M. Hughes, and fellow Republican Timothy W. Swain (who had been appointed in 1955, and elected to his first full term in 1956).[5][4]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne A. Johnston (incumbent)	1,842,328	17.38
	Republican	Earl W. Hughes (incumbent)	1,833,387	17.30
	Republican	Timothy W. Swain (incumbent)	1,824,359	17.21
	Democratic	Richard J. Nelson	1,705,884	16.09
	Democratic	John T. Coburn	1,699,054	16.03
	Democratic	Ivan A. Elliott Jr.	1,694,194	15.98
	Write-in	Audrey Peak	14	0.00
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			10,599,223	100

Judicial elections

1962 Illinois judicial elections

April 10, 1962

Special judicial elections were held April 10 to fill vacancies. Additionally, the Superior Court of Cook County held elections on November 6.[1]

Supreme Court

Third Supreme Court Judicial District (vacancy caused by the death of George W. Bristow)

Third Supreme Court Judicial District (vacancy caused by the death of George W. Bristow)[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert C. Underwood	117,600	57.94
	Democratic	Robert Zachariah Hickman	79,011	38.93
	Others	Others	6,363	0.03
Total votes			202,975	100

Lower courts

Elections were held to fill seven vacancies on the Superior Court of Cook County. Democratic nominees defeated their Republican opponents in all seven elections.[4] The Superior Court of Cook County also held regularly-scheduled elections on November 6.[1]

Ballot measures

Two ballot measures were put before voters in 1962. One was a legislatively referred state statute and one was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.[1]

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.[6] 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]

General Banking Law Amendment

The General Banking Law Amendment was approved by voters as a legislatively referred state statute. It made modified the state's banking law.[7]

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment[1][3][4][7]

Candidate		Votes	%
Yes		1,321,405	60.16
No		875,212	39.84
Total votes		2,196,617	100
Voter turnout		43.03%

Judicial Article Amendment

Voters approved the Judicial Article Amendment, which amended Article VI of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois.[4]

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][9]

Judicial Article Amendment[1][3][4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,166,917	65.90	56.84
No	1,121,237	34.10	29.41
Total votes	3,288,154	100	86.26
Voter turnout	64.41%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 6, 1960 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1961–1962 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 10, 1962" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. Illinois Blue Book 1961-1962. Illinois Secretary of State. p. 911, 961-962.
3. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 4, 1986" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
4. "Illinois Blue Book 1963-1964". www.idaillinois.org. Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
5. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
6. Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
7. "Illinois General Banking Law Amendment (1962)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
8. 1870 Illinois Constituton Article XIV
9. "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 1 April 2020.