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

, 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