1996 Cook County, Illinois Elections
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - 1996 Cook County, Illinois Elections
OR:
1996 Cook County, Illinois Elections on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The
Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
, general election was held on November 5, 1996. Primaries were held March 19, 1996. Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court,
Recorder of Deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
,
State's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...
, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the
Circuit Court of Cook County The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that court ...
.


Election information

1996 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
,
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
, and
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
) and those for state elections.


Voter turnout


Primary election

Turnout in the primaries was 30.39%, with 776,069 ballots cast. Chicago saw 35.02% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 25.46% turnout.


General election

The general election saw turnout of 64.37%, with 1,774,961 ballots cast. Chicago saw 63.17% turnout (with 902,514 ballots cast), and suburban Cook County saw 65.66% turnout (with 872,447 ballots cast).


Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a
straight-ticket voting In American politics, straight-ticket voting or straight-party voting refers to the practice of voting for every candidate that a political party has on a general election ballot. The term can also refer to a straight-ticket voting option, some ...
option in 1996. This would be the last Cook County election with straight-ticket voting, as it would be abolished in Illinois in 1997.


Clerk of the Circuit Court

In the 1996
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is the clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois. Office description On January 1, 1964, the circuit courts of Cook County were unified. Before this, there were more t ...
election, incumbent second-term clerk
Aurelia Pucinski Aurelia Marie Pucinski (born April 29, 1947) is a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. She previously served as a trial judge and clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Her second term expires in 2030. Early life Bor ...
, a Democrat, was reelected.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


General election


Recorder of Deeds

In the 1996
Cook County Recorder of Deeds The Cook County Recorder of Deeds was the recorder of deeds of county government in Cook County, Illinois until the position's abolishment in 2020. History of office The office was established in December 1872. Before this, the Clerk of the Cir ...
election, incumbent first-term recorder of deeds Jesse White, a Democrat, was reelected.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


Harold Washington Party


General election


State's Attorney

In the 1996
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 ...
election, incumbent state's attorney Jack O'Malley, a Republican first elected in a special election in 1990 and subsequently reelected in 1992, was defeated by Democrat
Richard A. Devine Richard A. Devine (born July 5, 1943) is an American attorney who served as the Cook County State's Attorney from 1996 to 2008. Early life and education The second of five children, he was the son of a Chicago Water Department employee. Devine g ...
.


Primaries


Democratic


Republican


Harold Washington Party


General election

Few had seen Devine as having much prospect of unseating O'Malley, a popular incumbent who was regarded as a rising political star. Devine's strong victory over O'Malley was regarded as a very surprising upset. Devine was regarded as having ridden the
coattails The coattail effect or down-ballot effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. For example, in the United States, the party of a victorious presidential cand ...
of a Democratic wave in Illinois which saw incumbent president
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and his vice president
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
carry the state by nearly twenty-points in the presidential election and Illinois also elect
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate Dem ...
in its U.S. Senate election. Even Devine himself expressed surprise at just how large his margin-of-victory was over O'Malley.


Water Reclamation District Board

In the 1996
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois since 1889. Although its name may imply other ...
election, three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in an at-large election. All three Democratic nominees won election.


Judicial elections

Pasrtisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies.
Retention election A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are ...
s were also held for the Circuit Court. Partisan elections were also held for subcircuit courts judgeships due to vacancies. Retention elections were held for other judgeships.


Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic, Republican, and Harold Washington Party
committeemen In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party ...
for the wards of Chicago.


See also

*
1996 Illinois elections Elections were held in Illinois on November 5, 1996. Primaries were held March 19, 1996. Election information Turnout For the primaries, turnout was 29.46%, with 1,804,626 ballots cast (with 902,635 Democratic ballots, 868,030 Republican bal ...


References

{{1996 United States elections
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
Cook County, Illinois elections Cook County 1996
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
Cook County, Illinois elections Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...