A general election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

on November 6, 2018. The elections for Illinois's 18 congressional districts,

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, statewide constitutional officers,

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

, and Illinois House were held on this date. Primaries were held March 20, 2018. The Democratic Party made gains, including picking up the state's governorship and flipping two of its U.S. House seats. After the election, all executive offices and control of the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

was held by the Democratic Party. Conversely the Republican Party experienced what was regarded to be their worst defeat in the state since at least

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Election information

2018 was a

midterm election Apart from general elections and by-elections, a 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 t ...

year in the United States.

Turnout

Primary election

For the primary election, turnout was 26.48%, with 2,103,634 votes cast. Turnout by county

General election

For the general election, turnout was 57.23%, with 4,635,541 votes cast. The Illinois State Board of Elections reported that this general election turnout rate was the third-highest for a midterm election over the past forty years. The Illinois State Board of Elections also reported that the total number of votes cast set a record high. Voter registration, at 8.1 million, also sat at a record high. Turnout was considered high in the United States during the

2018 midterm elections Elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during incumbent Republican president Donald Trump's first term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, Democratic incum ...

, with it being the highest national midterm turnout since

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

. Turnout by county

Federal elections

United States House

All of Illinois' 18 seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party flipped two Republican-held seats, making the composition of Illinois' House delegation 13 Democrats and five Republicans.

Governor and lieutenant governor

Incumbent Republican

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic venture capitalist and billionaire

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Attorney general

Incumbent Democratic

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Lisa Madigan Lisa Murray Madigan (born July 30, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she served as Illinois Attorney General, Attorney General of the U.S. state of Illinois from 2003 t ...

, who had served since 2003, chose not to run for re-election to a fifth term. Democratic state Senator

Kwame Raoul Kwame Raoul (, born September 30, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the 42nd Attorney General of Illinois since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Raoul represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate fro ...

defeated Republican

Erika Harold Erika Natalie Louise Harold (born February 20, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and former Miss America. Harold was Miss Illinois 2002 and Miss America 2003. Her pageant platform was combating bullying. In 2014, she was a candidate ...

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Secretary of state

Incumbent Democratic secretary of state Jesse White, who had been in office since 1999, initially announced in August 2015 that he would retire. On August 17, 2017, White reversed this decision and announced that he would run for re-election to a sixth term. '' Governing'' magazine projected the race as "safe Democratic".

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Declared

= * Jesse White, incumbent secretary of state

=Withdrew

= * Mike Hastings, state senator

=Declined

= *

Walter Burnett Jr. Walter Burnett Jr. (born August 16, 1963) is an American politician who has served as the alderman for Chicago's 27th ward since his first election in 1995. The 27th ward includes the West Loop, Greektown, East Garfield Park, Near North Side, O ...

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for Chicago's 27th ward

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Declared

= *Jason Helland, Grundy County State's AttorneyRauner faces war on two fronts as Republican challenger Ives attacks
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.

=Declined

= *J.C. Griffin, Iraq War veteran

Results

Endorsements

General election

Results

Comptroller

Incumbent Republican

Judy Baar Topinka Judy Baar Topinka (; January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois. Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois ...

died on December 10, 2014, after being re-elected to a second term in office. A

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held in 2016 for the remainder of the term, with Democratic

City Clerk of Chicago The city clerk of Chicago is in charge of record-keeping for Chicago, including for its elections, permits, licenses, and laws. When the Chicago City Council is in session, the city clerk also serves as council secretary. The clerk is a citywide ...

Susana Mendoza Susana A. Mendoza (born May 13, 1972) is an American politician. She is the 10th and current Comptroller of Illinois, taking office on December 5, 2016. She previously served as the City Clerk of Chicago from 2011 to 2016. Mendoza is a member o ...

defeating appointed Republican Comptroller Leslie Munger. Mendoza won a full term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Declared

= *

, incumbent Illinois Comptroller

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Declared

= *

Darlene Senger Darlene J. Senger (born July 28, 1955) is an American politician. She was a member of the Naperville, Illinois City Council, where she served from 2002 to 2008,"State Rep. Senger may run for Congress". ''The Naperville Sun'', July 17, 2013, page ...

, former state representative and nominee for Illinois's 11th congressional district in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Results

Third parties and independents

Candidates

=Declared

= *Claire Ball (Libertarian), certified public accountant

General election

Results

Treasurer

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Declared

= * Mike Frerichs, incumbent

state treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Declared

= *Jim Dodge,

Orland Park Orland Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, Orland Park had a population of 58,703. Located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago, Or ...

Village trustee and candidate for Illinois Comptroller in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Results

General election

Results

State senate

One-third of the seats of the

were up for election in 2018.

State House of Representatives

All of the seats in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

were up for election in 2018.

Judicial elections

Judicial elections were held, consisting of both partisan and retention elections, including those for one seat in the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the ...

and five seats in the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...

Local elections

Local elections took place, including county elections such as the Cook County elections.

Notes

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

{{2018 United States elections