Elections were held in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on Tuesday, November 4, 1980.

Primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

were held on March 18.

Election information

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 43.50%, with a total of 2,493,518 ballots cast. 1,321,810 Democratic and 1,171,708 Republican primary ballots were cast. Turnout during the general election was 78.14%, with 4,868,623 ballots cast.

Federal elections

United States President

Illinois voted for Republican

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. This was the fourth consecutive election in which the state had voted for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket in a presidential election.

United States Senate

Incumbent Democrat

Adlai Stevenson III Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician of the Democratic Party who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1970 until 1981. A member of the prominent Stevenson fami ...

, did not seek reelection. Democrat

Alan J. Dixon Alan John Dixon (July 7, 1927 – July 6, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the Illinois General Assembly from 1951 to 1971, as the Illinois Treasurer from 1971 to 1977, as the Illinois Secretary ...

was elected to succeed him.

United States House

In a January 22, 1980

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

for

Illinois's 10th congressional district The 10th congressional district of Illinois lies in the northeast corner of the state, and mostly comprises northern suburbs of Chicago. It was created after the 1860 census. The district is currently represented by Democrat Brad Schneider. ...

, Republican

John Porter John Porter may refer to: Politicians * John Porter (portreeve), 1390–94, Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton * John Porter (Illinois politician) (1935–2022), Illinois politician, U.S. Representative * John Porter (MP for Bramber) (died 1599 ...

captured what had previously been a Democratic-held seat. All of Illinois' 24 congressional seats were up for reelection in November 1980. In the November election, none of Illinois' seats switched parties, with there remaining 14 Republican and seats 10 Democratic seats in Illinois' House of Representatives delegation.

State elections

State Senate

Some 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 1980. Democrats retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

All of the 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 1980. Republicans 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 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 9 ...

. The election saw the reelection first-term incumbent Democratic Nina T. Shepherd and the election of new members, Republicans Galey S. Day and Dean E. Madden. First-term incumbent Democrats Arthur R. Velasquez and Robert J. Lenz lost reelection.

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1980.

Ballot measures

Illinois voters voted on a two ballot measures in 1980. In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections. The two measures were approved, becoming the first amendments to be successfully made following

the passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

of 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 ...

Size of State House of Representatives Amendment

Voters approved the Size of State House of Representatives Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1", the "Legislative Article", and the "Cutback Amendment"), which was an

initiated Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

constitutional amendment that amended Article IV, Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Illinois to reduce the size of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 118 members, eliminated

cumulative voting Cumulative voting (also accumulation voting, weighted voting or multi-voting) is a multiple-winner method intended to promote more proportional representation than winner-take-all elections such as block voting or first past the post. Cumulative ...

, and replace the use of multi-member

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

with single-member districts.

Sale of Tax Delinquent Property Amendment

Voters approved the Sale of Tax Delinquent Property Amendment (also known as the "Revenue Article" and "Article 2"), which was a

legislatively referred constitutional amendment A legislative referral (or legislative referendum) is a referendum in which a legislature puts proposed legislation up for popular vote. This may either be voluntarily or, as is the case in many countries for a constitutional amendment, as a man ...

that amended Article IX, Section 8 of the Constitution of Illinois to reduce the redemption period on the sale of tax delinquent property.

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

{{United States elections, 1980