Illinois gubernatorial election, 2006

2002 ← November 7, 2006 → 2010

Nominee Rod Blagojevich Judy Baar Topinka Rich Whitney Party Democratic Republican Green Running mate Pat Quinn Joe Birkett Julie Samuels Popular vote 1,736,731 1,369,315 361,336 Percentage 49.79% 39.26% 10.36%

County Results

Governor before election Rod Blagojevich Democratic Elected Governor Rod Blagojevich Democratic

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The Illinois gubernatorial election of 2006 occurred on November 7, 2006. The Governor of Illinois, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, won re-election for a four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich was impeached and convicted in 2009. Many observers expected the race to be close, especially considering the polling [1], which has shown Governor Blagojevich had a high disapproval rating. However, the Republicans fared poorly in elections since 2002 due to scandals involving prior Governor George Ryan, as well as changing demographics in the state as a whole (see blue state).

Republican primary [edit]

Candidates [edit]

• Judy Baar Topinka, Illinois State Treasurer
• Jim Oberweis, owner of Oberweis Dairy
• Bill Brady, Illinois State Senator
• Rod Gitwitz, businessman
• Andy Martin, perennial candidate

Campaign [edit]

On November 7, 2005, Topinka announced that she would not seek re-election as state treasurer — instead, she entered the gubernatorial primary, hoping to challenge Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Republican primary was deeply divisive; her tenure as Party Chairman destroyed her support from the conservative wing of her party, and it was feared that her pro-choice and positive gay rights positions would be detrimental to her standing with the same conservatives. In December she announced that she would join forces with DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

In February 2006, the candidates for the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor began running their first TV ads for the March statewide primary election. Rival candidate Ron Gidwitz's advertisements, attacking Topinka, were rebuked in the same week by the Illinois Republican Party: "In an unprecedented action, the Illinois Republican Party has officially rebuked the Gidwitz campaign for this ad because the Party found that the ad violates the Party's "Code of Conduct," which was enacted to police proper conduct among Republican candidates."

Later in February, candidate Jim Oberweis, another rival for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination, started a series of attack ads for television markets, against Topinka, that were even more widely criticized, mostly for using "fake" headlines on the images of actual Illinois newspapers. ^{[2] [3]} These ads, like Gidwitz's ads, also came under review by the Illinois Republican Party. ^[4] Because of the controversy generated, several television stations withdrew Oberweis's ads. ^[5]

Results [edit]

Democratic primary [edit]

Candidates [edit]

• Rod Blagojevich, incumbent Governor of Illinois
• Edwin Eisendrath, former Chicago City Council Alderman, former HUD official

Results [edit]

General election [edit]

Candidates [edit]

On ballot [edit]

• Rod Blagojevich(Democratic Party), incumbent Governor of Illinois
• Judy Baar Topinka (Republican Party), Illinois State Treasurer
• Rich Whitney (Green Party), civil rights attorney from Carbondale, Illinois

Write-ins [edit]

• Marvin Koch, Chicago-area property manager and naval reservist.
• Mark McCoy (Libertarian Party), legal Scholar and Rights Defender
• Angel Rivera, lung transplant procurement coordinator at the University of Chicago Medical Center
• Randy Stufflebeam, Illinois Constitution Party chairman, USMC veteran and church activist
• Mike Shorten

Polling [edit]

Polling on 14 October 2006

Results [edit]

Blagojevich was declared the winner by 10:00 p.m. A factor of his 10-point victory over Topinka was her just winning in rural counties, by slim margins.

Green Party Establishment [edit]

The Green Party became an established political party statewide, according to Illinois state election law, when Rich Whitney received more than 5% of the total vote for Governor. This status provides the party with several new advantages, such as lower signature requirements for ballot access, primary elections, free access to additional voter data, the ability to elect precinct committeemen, run a partial slate of candidates at any jurisdictional level, and slate candidates without petitioning. The only other statewide established political parties are the Democratic and Republican parties. It is rare for a new political party to become established statewide in Illinois, the last to do so being the Solidarity Party in 1986 and the Progressive Party before that.

See also [edit]

• 2006 Election for statewide offices in the State of Illinois
• U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006
• State of Illinois
• Governors of Illinois
• Electoral history of Rod Blagojevich

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Whitney's Campaign Website
• Blagojevich's Campaign Website
• Topinka's Campaign Website
• Stufflebeam's Campaign Website
• Mark McCoy's Campaign Website
• Koch's Campaign Website
• Quinn's Campaign Website
• Birkett's Campaign Website

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