The 1960 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1960, as part of the
1960 United States presidential election. State voters chose 27 representatives, or electors, to the
Electoral College, who voted for
president
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* President (government title)
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Automobiles
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and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
.
In the nation's second-closest race following
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
was won by
Senator John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
(
D–
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
), running with Senator
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
, with 49.98% of the popular vote against
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
Vice President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
(
R–
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
), running with
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (July 5, 1902 – February 27, 1985) was an American diplomat and Republican United States senator from Massachusetts in both Senate seats in non-consecutive terms of service and a United States ambassador. He was considered ...
, with 49.80% of the popular vote, a margin of victory of only 0.18%.
As of 2020 this is the last time that a Democrat would win Illinois by only a single digit margin of victory.
Primaries
Turnout
Turnout in the state-run primary elections (Democratic and Republican) was 16.43% with a total of 836,458 votes cast.
Turnout during the general election was 86.51%, with 4,757,409 votes cast.
[ Both major parties held non-binding state-run preferential primaries on April 12.][
]
Democratic
The 1960 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
as one of the Democratic Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.
The popular vote was a non-binding "beauty contest". Delegates were instead elected by direct votes by congressional district on delegate candidates.
All candidates were write-ins
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be po ...
. Kennedy ran a write-in campaign, and no candidate actively ran against him in Illinois.[
Not all of the vote-getters had been declared candidates. Johnson, Stevenson, and Symington had all sat out the primaries.
Chicago mayor ]Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
, head of the Cook County Democratic Party
The Cook County Democratic Party is a political party which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and consequently, Illinois politics) si ...
, promised to deliver Kennedy the support of Cook County's delegates, so long as Kennedy won competitive primaries in other states.[
]
Republican
The 1960 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on April 12, 1960, in the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
as one of the Republican Party's state primaries ahead of the 1960 presidential election.
The preference vote was a "beauty contest". Delegates were instead selected by direct-vote in each congressional districts on delegate candidates.
Nixon ran unopposed in the primary.
Analysis
Some, including Republican legislators and journalists, believed that Kennedy benefited from vote fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
from Mayor Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
's powerful Chicago political machine.
Daley's machine was known for "delivering whopping Democratic tallies by fair means and foul."
Republicans tried and failed to overturn the results at the time—as well as in ten other states.
Some journalists also later claimed that mobster Sam Giancana
Salvatore Mooney Giancana (; born Gilormo Giangana; ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966.
Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 42 ...
and his Chicago crime syndicate "played a role" in Kennedy's victory. Nixon's campaign staff urged him to pursue recounts and challenge the validity of Kennedy's victory, but Nixon gave a speech three days after the election that he would not contest the election.
A myth arose that Daley held back much of the Chicago vote until the late morning hours of November 9. However, when the Republican ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' went to press, 79% of Cook County precincts had reported, compared to just 62% of Illinois's precincts overall. Moreover, Nixon never led in Illinois, and Kennedy's lead merely shrank as election night went on. Earl Mazo, a reporter for the pro-Nixon '' New York Herald Tribune'' and his biographer, investigated the voting in Chicago and "claimed to have discovered sufficient evidence of vote fraud to prove that the state was stolen for Kennedy."
A special prosecutor assigned to the case brought charges against 650 people, who were acquitted by a judge who was considered a "Daley machine loyalist."
Three Chicago election workers were convicted of voter fraud in 1962 and served short terms in jail. Mazo, the ''Herald-Tribune'' reporter, later said that he "found names of the dead who had voted in Chicago, along with 56 people from one house." He found cases of Republican voter fraud in southern Illinois but said that the totals "did not match the Chicago fraud he found."
An academic study in 1985 later analyzed the ballots of two disputed precincts in Chicago which were subject to a recount. It found that while there was a pattern of miscounting votes to the advantage of Democratic candidates, Nixon suffered less than Republicans in other races, and the extrapolated error would have reduced his Illinois margin only from 8,858 votes, the final official total, to just under 8,000. It concluded there was insufficient evidence that he had been cheated out of winning Illinois.
Even if enough legitimate systemic fraud was discovered in Illinois to give Nixon the state, that alone would not have been enough to win him the presidency. Kennedy would've still been left with 276 electoral votes, seven more than what he needed to win the White House.
Recount
Ben Adamowski
Benjamin S. Adamowski (November 20, 1906 – March 1, 1982) was a politician and lawyer.
Early life
His father, Max Adamowski, was an alderman in Chicago, as well as a real estate agent in Logan Square, and tavern owner. He graduated from ...
, a Republican who lost reelection as Cook County State's Attorney
The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...
to Democratic nominee Daniel P. Ward, requested a recount of the state's attorney race. Republicans sought to use this recount, as they could not order a recount of the presidential results, to prove that fraud had been committed in the presidential election. Sidney Holzman, the chair of the Board of Election Commissioners, stated that only the three BEC members could handle the ballots and would only recount the ballots for the state's attorney election. Judge Thaddeus Adesko ruled that twenty-five teams of counters had to be used and that the other elections would be included in the recount.
The recount was finished on December 9, and showed that in six towns around Chicago mistakes of ten votes or more in favor of Kennedy occurred in 3.1% of the precincts, those in favor of Nixon occurred in 2.6%, and those in favor of third-parties occurred in 4.8%. 11% of the precincts in Chicago had errors of ten votes of more in Kennedy's favor and 8.6% in Nixon's favor. Kennedy's vote was overcounted in 38% of Chicago's precincts while Nixon's vote was overcounted in 40%. Nixon's total was increased by 926 votes.
Republicans accused the election commission of manipulating the recount and Adamowski successfully sued for another recount in 1961, although only his election was recounted. The original recount increased his vote total by 9.073 while the second one increased his total by 12.694 per precinct.
Results
Results by county
See also
* United States presidential elections in Illinois
Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Illinois, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1818, Illinois has participated in every U.S. presidential election.
Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refe ...
References
Works cited
*
{{1960 United States elections
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Jan ...
1960 Illinois elections
Electoral fraud in the United States