The 1994 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Republican Governor

Jim Edgar James Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. Previously he served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State ...

won reelection in the greatest landslide in Illinois history, excepting the election of

1818 Events January–March * January 1 ** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Empire. ** Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein'' is published anonymously in London. * January 2 – ...

. Edgar carried 101 of the state's 102 counties over the Democratic nominee, State Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch, with Netsch only winning Gallatin County by a narrow margin. To date, this is the most recent statewide election in which

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 ...

voted for the Republican candidate and the most recent election in which a Republican governor won a second term in Illinois.

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the

1994 Illinois elections Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 8, 1994. Primaries were held on March 15, 1994. These elections saw the Republican Party make significant gains, and conversely saw the Democratic Party see significant losses. The Republican ...

. The 1994

midterm election Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...

s saw a strong showing by the Republican Party, which was dubbed the " Republican Revolution".

Turnout

For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 29.16%, with 1,794,357 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 23.44% with 1,442,160 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 50.77%, with 3,106,556 votes cast.

Democratic primaries

Governor

Candidates

Roland Burris Roland Wallace Burris (born August 3, 1937) is an American politician and attorney who is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party. In 1978, Burris was the first African American elected ...

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the attorne ...

*James Elroy Gierach *Sheila A. Jones,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

* Dawn Clark Netsch,

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 ...

Richard Phelan Richard Phelan, D.D. (January 1, 1828 – December 20, 1904) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, in the United States from 1889 to 1904. Bio ...

, President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

*Anthony P. Harper *

Penny Severns Penny Severns (1952–1998) was a member of the Illinois Senate who represented the 51st Senate District from 1987 until her death in February 1998. Early life Severns was born January 21, 1952, in Decatur, Illinois. After graduating high school ...

, Illinois State Senator *Sheila Smith

Republican primaries

Governor

Candidates

, incumbent governor *

Jack Roeser John Otto Roeser (August 31, 1923 – June 13, 2014) was an American engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, businessman, civic leader and candidate for elected office. Roeser was born in Chicago, the youngest son of Irene and Otto Roeser. As a boy he de ...

, businessman

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Bob Kustra Robert Walter Kustra (born March 21, 1943) is an American politician and academic administrator who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1998 and the President of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. Education Kust ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor

Results

General election

Polling

Results

References

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

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 ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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