The
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...
, 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 ove ...
,
State's Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
, 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 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...
.
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:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
,
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 c ...
, 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.
Straight-ticket voting
Ballots had a straight-ticket voting
In political science, 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. In some states, ballots may offer a straight-ticket voting option, ...
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 Court clerk, clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County, located in Cook County, Illinois.
Office description
The office was first established in 1831, the year that Cook County was created. In 18 ...
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 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 is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...
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.
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.Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
and his vice president Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
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 Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...
in its U.S. Senate election.
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 oth ...
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.
Judicial elections
Pasrtisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies.Retention election
A retention election or retention referendum is a referendum where voters are asked if an office holder, usually a judge, should be allowed to continue in that office. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are cast against rete ...
s were also held for the Circuit Court.
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 Election Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party c ...
for the wards of Chicago.[
]
See also
* 1996 Illinois elections
References
{{Cook County State's Attorney, state=collapsed
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 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
Cook County, Illinois elections
Cook County 1996