Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Primaries were held on March 16, 1976. In order to, per

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 ...

, allow for all statewide executive offices to be up for election in the 1978 midterms, all statewide executive offices up for election in 1976 were only elected to two-year terms.

Election information

In order to, per

, allow for all statewide executive offices to be up for election in the 1978 midterms, all statewide executive offices up for election in 1976 were only elected to two-year terms. This is would be the last time that any election for a nstatewide executive office would be held in Illinois during a presidential election year, until 2016, when a special election was held for comptroller.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 21.55%, with a total of 1,239,487 ballots cast. 669,210 Democratic and 570,277 Republican primary ballots were cast. Turnout during the general election was 77.38%, with 4,838,182 ballots cast.

Federal elections

United States President

Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

and

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

United States House

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1976. Republicans flipped one seat, making the composition of Illinois' House delegation consist of 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Governor Dan Walker, a Democrat, had been defeated by Michael J. Howlett in the Democratic primary, while 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 ...

Neil Hartigan was renominated in the Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary. The Republican ticket of James R. Thompson and David C. O'Neal won the election.

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 third term.

Democratic primary

President of the Illinois Senate

Cecil Partee Cecil Armillo Partee (April 10, 1921 – August 17, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was the first African American to serve as president of the Illinois Senate and the first to serve as Cook County State's Attorney. He serve ...

narrowly defeated Superintendent of the Illinois Department of Registration and Education Ronald E. Stackler in the Democratic primary.

Republican primary

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

General election

Secretary of State

Incumbent Secretary of State

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 ...

, a Democrat, did not seek a second term, instead opting to run for governor. Democrat Alan J. Dixon was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Illinois Treasurer Alan J. Dixon won the Democratic primary, defeating Illinois State Senator

Vince Demuzio Vince Demuzio (May 7, 1941 – April 27, 2004) was a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate from January 1975 until his death in April 2004. During his time in the Senate, he represented various portions of southwestern Illinois. At the time ...

Republican primary

Illinois State Senator William C. Harris won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

Comptroller

Incumbent

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

George W. Lindberg, a Republican running for a second term, was defeated by Democrat

Michael Bakalis Michael J. Bakalis (born March 23, 1938) is an American academic and politician. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1978, losing to incumbent Republican Governor James R. Thompson. Bakalis received his bachelor's, master ...

Democratic primary

Former

Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction The Illinois State Superintendent of Education, often shortened to State Superintendent, is a statewide government office in the U.S. state of Illinois. The State Superintendent is nominated by the Governor of Illinois and serves at the pleasure o ...

Michael Bakalis won the Democratic primary, defeating Director of the Illinois State Department of General Services Roland Burris.

Republican primary

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

General election

State Senate

Seats of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

were up for election in 1976. Democrats retained 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 1976. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the

were up for election in 1974. Democrats flipped 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 election saw the reelection of first-term Democrats William D. Forsyth Jr., George W. Howard III, and Earl L. Neal.

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1976.

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

{{United States elections, 1976 Illinois