1992 United States Senate election in Illinois
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|
Turnout
| 74.84%
|
---|
|
County results
Moseley Braun:
40?50%
50?60%
60?70%
Williamson:
40?50%
50?60%
|
|
The
1992 United States Senate election in Illinois
was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Senator
Alan J. Dixon
decided to run for re-election a third term, but he was defeated in the Democratic primary by
Carol Moseley Braun
, who won the general election. Until
2022
, this was the last time a single party won Illinois's Class 3 Senate seat in two or more consecutive elections.
Braun, whose victory coincided with
Bill Clinton
's win in
Illinois
and the
overall presidential election
, made history in this election by becoming the first African American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and also the first African American elected to the Senate as a
Democrat
. Braun was also both the first African American and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois.
Primaries were held March 17.
[1]
Election information
[
edit
]
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (
president
and
House
), as well as those for
state offices
.
[1]
[2]
Turnout
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]
For the primaries, turnout was 35.20%, with 2,064,347 votes cast.
[1]
For the general election, turnout was 74.84%, with 4,939,557 votes cast.
[2]
Democratic primary
[
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]
Candidates
[
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]
Results
[
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]
Analysis
[
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]
This defeat shocked observers; at the time no Senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. He was a moderate Democrat, who recently voted to confirm
Clarence Thomas
to the
Supreme Court
.
[4]
Braun, a black woman and known reformist liberal, got a large share of black, liberal, and women voters ("The Year of the Woman").
In addition, she carried
Cook County, Illinois
, by far the most populated county in the state. Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.
Republican primary
[
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]
Richard S. Williamson
ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
General election
[
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]
Candidates
[
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]
Major
[
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]
Minor
[
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]
- Kathleen Kaku (SW)
- Chad Koppie (I)
- Alan J. Port (NA)
- Andrew B. Spiegel (L)
- Charles A. Winter (NL)
Results
[
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]
Moseley Braun won the 1992 Illinois Senate Race by a fairly comfortable margin. Moseley Braun did well as expected in
Cook County
home of
Chicago
. Williamson did well in the Chicago collar counties, and most northern parts of the state. Moseley Braun had a surprisingly strong showing in southern Illinois, which Republicans had come to dominate in the last several decades. Braun also did well in
Rock Island County
.
See also
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]
References
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]
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By year
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Gubernatorial
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Lieutenant gubernatorial
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Other state executive offices
|
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
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State Senate
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Ballot measures and referendums
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Chicago mayoral
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Chicago City Council
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Cook County
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