Elections were held in

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 Roc ...

on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Primaries were held on March 21, 1972.

Election information

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 39.90%, with a total of 2,228,605 ballots cast. 1,563,193

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and 665,412 Republican primary ballots were cast. Turnout during the general election was 78.52%, with 4,880,213 ballots cast.

Federal elections

United States President

Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of

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 t ...

and

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

United States Senate

Incumbent

Charles H. Percy Charles Harting Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964, and served as a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois from 1967 ...

, a Republican, won reelection.

United States House

All 24 Illinois seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

were up for election in 1972. Seats had seen redistricting due to the results of the 1970 United States Census. Illinois did not lose any congressional seats during reapportionment. , this is the last time that Illinois has not lost any congressional districts during a post-census reapportionment. Before the election, both the Democratic and Republican parties held 12 seats from Illinois. In 1972, Republicans won 14 seats, while Democrats won 10 seats.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Republican Richard B. Ogilvie lost to Democrat Dan Walker. Incumbent

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Paul Simon did not seek reelection to a second term, instead opting to (ultimately unsuccessfully) seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Democrat Neil Hartigan was elected to succeed him. This was the first gubernatorial elections in which gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates were elected on a ticket in the general election, per the 1970 Constitution of Illinois.

Attorney General

Incumbent

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

William J. Scott, a Republican, was elected to a second term.

Democratic primary

Illinois State Senator Thomas G. Lyons won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican primary

Incumbent William J. Scott won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

Secretary of State

Incumbent Secretary of State

John W. Lewis Jr. John W. Lewis Jr. (September 6, 1905 – August 12, 1977) was an American politician. Born in Marshall, Illinois, Lewis graduated from Marshall Township High School and then went to University of Illinois. He was a farmer auctioneer, and livestock ...

, a Republican, had been appointed in 1970. He did not seek reelection. Democrat

Michael Howlett Michael J. Howlett Sr. (August 30, 1914 – May 4, 1992) was an American politician who served as the 24th Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts and 33rd Illinois Secretary of State. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois in th ...

was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts 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 ...

Michael J. Howlett Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican primary

Edmund J. Kucharski Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings ...

won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

Comptroller

Comptroller was a newly formed office, created by the 1970

Constitution of Illinois The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

to replace the office of Auditor of Public Accounts, of which the outgoing incumbent was Democrat

, who instead opted to run for Secretary of State. Republican

George W. Lindberg George Wakem Lindberg (June 21, 1932 – March 19, 2019) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Early life Born in Crystal Lake, Illinois, Lindberg received his Bachelo ...

was elected the inaugural Illinois Comptroller.

Democratic primary

Dean Barringer won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican primary

George W. Lindberg won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

State Senate

Seats of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

were up for election in 1972. Republicans flipped control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

were up for election in 1972. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of

University of Illinois system The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than ...

. The election saw the reelection of three-term former member Republican Park Livingston and first-term Republican incumbent Ralph Crane Hahn, as well as the election of new Republican member Jane S. Hayes Rader. Democratic incumbent Robert B. Pogue (elected in a special election two years earlier) lost reelection.

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1972.

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

{{United States elections, 1972