A special election for
Illinois Comptroller
The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replacing ...
took place on November 8, 2016. After comptroller
Judy Baar Topinka
Judy Baar Topinka (January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois.
Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1981 ...
died shortly after her
reelection in 2014, Republican Governor
Bruce Rauner appointed
Leslie Munger
Leslie Geissler Munger(January 5, 2015) "Rauner to Appoint Leslie Munger as Next Illinois Comptroller" ''WGNtv.com''. Retrieved January 12, 2015. (born September 5, 1956) is an American politician and business executive who served as the Illinois ...
, a former business executive and unsuccessful 2014 nominee for the
Illinois House of Representatives, to fill her seat at the beginning of his term in 2015. Per
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 ...
state law, a special election was held to elect a comptroller to finish Topinka's term. Munger ran as the Republican nominee against Democratic
Chicago City Clerk
The City Clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for the city of Chicago and its elections. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the City Clerk serves as council secretary. This position is a citywide elected office, one of three ...
Susana Mendoza.
State Senator
Daniel Biss ran for the Democratic nomination, but dropped out in November 2015.
Mendoza defeated Munger by 49.45% of the vote to Munger's 44.43%, becoming Illinois' tenth comptroller on December 5, 2016.
Election information
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (
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 ...
,
House and
Senate), as well as those for
other state offices.
Background
Topinka died in December 2014, shortly after being re-elected to a second term in November, but before that second term began, outgoing Democratic Governor
Pat Quinn (who lost his own
bid for re-election) appointed his former budget chief
Jerry Stermer to fill the remainder of Topinka's first term, allowing Governor-elect Bruce Rauner to make his own appointment for what would have been Topinka's second full term.
In an early January 2015 special session, the Democratic-led
Illinois General Assembly approved a bill requiring that a special election be held at the next regular statewide election for any vacancy in any
statewide executive office that occurs more than 28 months before the end of the term. Governor Quinn signed the bill shortly thereafter. Whoever incoming Governor
Bruce Rauner appointed to fill Topinka's second term would serve only until a 2016 special election, instead of serving the full four-year term. The special election law received criticism from
Republicans, who described it as a move to weaken Governor Rauner by shortening the term of his appointee.
Turnout
For the state-run primaries (Democratic and Republican), turnout was 35.94%, with 2,755,220 votes cast.
[ For the general election, turnout was 67.41%, with 5,412,543 votes cast.][
]
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
* Susana Mendoza, City Clerk of Chicago
The City Clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for the city of Chicago and its elections. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the City Clerk serves as council secretary. This position is a citywide elected office, one of three ...
Withdrew
* Daniel Biss, state senator[
]
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
* Leslie Munger
Leslie Geissler Munger(January 5, 2015) "Rauner to Appoint Leslie Munger as Next Illinois Comptroller" ''WGNtv.com''. Retrieved January 12, 2015. (born September 5, 1956) is an American politician and business executive who served as the Illinois ...
, incumbent Comptroller
Results
Libertarian Party
Candidates
Declared
* Claire Ball, corporate accountant, U.S. Cellular
Green Party
Candidates
Declared
* Tim Curtin, former international representative for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), is an independent democratic rank-and-file labor union representing workers in both the private and public sectors across the United States.
UE was one of the first unions to be c ...
Local 925 national staff
General election
Endorsements
Results
References
{{Illinois elections
Comptroller 2016
Comptroller
Illinois Comptroller 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 ...