1942 Illinois elections

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 3, 1942.^[1]

Primaries were held April 14, 1942.^[1]

Election information[]

1942 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout[]

In the primary election 1,963,298 ballots were cast (1,026,644 Democratic and 936,654 Republican).^[1]

In the general election 3,049,312 ballots were cast.^[1]

Federal elections[]

United States Senate[]

Incumbent Republican Charles W. Brooks was reelected.

United States House[]

Illinois had redistricted before this election, and had lost one seat due to reapportionment following the 1950 United States Census. All of Illinois' remaining 26 seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1942.

Before the election Republicans held 16 seats and Democrats held 11 seats from Illinois. In 1942, Republicans won 19 seats and Democrats won 7 seats.

State elections[]

Treasurer[]

Incumbent first-term Treasurer, Republican Warren Wright, did not seek reelection, instead opting to run for United States Senate. Republican William G. Stratton was elected to succeed him.

Democratic primary[]

W. D. Forsyth defeated former Illinois Treasurer and Auditor of Public Accounts Edward J. Barrett and two other candidates.

Treasurer Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. D. Forsyth	427,688	48.98
	Democratic	Edward J. Barrett	332,011	38.02
	Democratic	Edward J. Callahan	63,832	7.31
	Democratic	John H. Condon	49,711	5.69
Total votes			873,242	100

Republican primary[]

Incumbent congressman William G. Stratton won the Republican nomination.

Treasurer Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William G. Stratton	625,445	79.27
	Republican	Harold T. Halfpenny	100,637	12.75
	Republican	Charles P. MacAuley	62,957	7.98
Total votes			789,039	100

General election[]

Treasurer election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William G. Stratton	1,553,944	54.25
	Democratic	W. D. Forsyth	1,300,091	45.39
	Prohibition	William G. Goodman	10,537	0.37
Total votes			2,864,572	100

Superintendent of Public Instruction[]

Incumbent second-term Superintendent of Public Instruction , a Democrat, lost reelection, being unseated by Republican was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary[]

Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	(incumbent)	777,534	100
	Write-in	Others	19	0.00
Total votes			777,553	100

Republican primary[]

Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican		348,379	48.56
	Republican	Wiley B. Garvin	151,007	21.05
	Republican	Michael I. Cleary	114,804	16.00
	Republican	W. C. Handlin	103,276	14.40
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			717,467	100

General election[]

Superintendent of Public Instruction election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican		1,497,550	52.71
	Democratic	(incumbent)	1,333,679	46.94
	Prohibition	Clay Freeman Gaumer	9,944	0.35
Total votes			2,841,173	100

State Senate[]

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1942. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives[]

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1942. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois[]

1942 Trustees of University of Illinois election

← 1940

November 3, 1942

1944 →

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois. All three Republican nominees won.^[1]

Incumbent Republican Chester R. Davis (elected in a special elections two years prior) was reelected.^[1]^[2] New Republican members Martin G. Luken and Frank H. McKelvey were also elected.^[1]^[2]

Incumbent Democrats Homer M. Adams and James M. Cleary were not renominated.^[2]

Democrat Kenney E. Williamson had briefly served before, having been appointed in 1940.^[2]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election^[1]^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chester R. Davis (incumbent)	1,515,787	18.08
	Republican	Frank H. McKelvey	1,500,721½	17.90
	Republican	Martin G. Luken	1,476,031½	17.60
	Democratic	T. V. Smith	1,322,287½	15.77
	Democratic	Walter Williams	1,272,182½	15.17
	Democratic	Kenney E. Williamson	1,265,520½	15.09
	Prohibition	Mildred E. Young	11,542	0.14
	Prohibition	Alonzo L. Parrott	10,927½	0.13
	Prohibition	Minnie Broom Koss	10,563	0.13
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			8,385,565	100

Judicial elections[]

Supreme Court[]

On June 1, 1942, several districts of the Supreme Court of Illinois had elections.^[1]

1st district[]

Republican Charles H. Thompson unseated Democratic incumbent Paul Farthing.

1st district Supreme Court of Illinois election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles H. Thompson	55,832	50.99
	Democratic	Paul Farthing (incumbent)	53,667	49.01
Total votes			109,499	100

2nd district[]

Republican incumbent June C. Smith with reelected.

2nd district Supreme Court of Illinois election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	June C. Smith	48,380	57.47
	Democratic	D.H. Mudge	35,811	42.54
Total votes			84,191	100

3rd district[]

Republican incumbent Walter T. Gunn was reelected, running unopposed.

3rd district Supreme Court of Illinois election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles H. Thompson	14,208	98.67
	Others	Write-in	192	1.33
Total votes			14,400	100

6th district[]

Incumbent Democrat Elwyn Riley Shaw was unseated by Republican William J. Fulton.

6th district Supreme Court of Illinois election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Fulton	35,015	74.51
	Democratic	Elwyn R. Shaw (incumbent)	11,976	25.49
	Others	Write-in	1	0.00
Total votes			46,992	100

7th district[]

Incumbent Democrat Francis S. Wilson was reelected, running unopposed.

7th district Supreme Court of Illinois election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Francis S. Wilson (incumbent)	254,707	99.78
	Others	Write-in	552	0.22
Total votes			255,259	100

Lower courts[]

Election were held on November 3, 1942 to fill two vacancies on the 16th Judicial Circuit and one vacancy on the 17th Judicial Circuit.

An election was held November 3, 1942 to fill two vacancies on the Superior Court of Cook County.^[1]

Ballot measure[]

One measure was put before voters in 1942.

Illinois Revenue Amendment[]

The Illinois Revenue Amendment, a proposed amendment to Section 1 of Article IX of the Constitution, failed to meet the threshold for approval.^[1]^[3]

If approved, this amendment would have enabled the legislature to exempt from certain taxes businesses that sold food for human consumption, allowing the legislature to define the word "food".^[3]

In order to be approved, legislatively referred constitutional amendments required approval equal to a majority of voters voting in the entire general election.^[3]^[4]

Illinois Revenue Amendment^[1]^[3]
Option	Votes	% of all ballots cast
Yes	979,892	32.14
No	346,232	11.35
Total votes	1,326,124	43.49

Local elections[]

Local elections were held.

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 3, 1942 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1941-1942 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, April 14, 1942" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 August 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Illinois Revenue Amendment (1942)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
^ Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2

[results-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 3, 1942 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1941-1942 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, April 14, 1942" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 August 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}

[ui1-2] "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

[IRA-3] "Illinois Revenue Amendment (1942)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 5 August 2020.

[4] Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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v t Elections in Illinois
By year	1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1969 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1998 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Presidential	1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 (Dem primary, Rep primary) 2012 2016 (Dem primary) 2020 (Dem primary)
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Special	2nd congressional, 1995 14th congressional, 2008 5th congressional, 2009 2nd congressional, 2013 18th congressional, 2015 Comptroller, 2016
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Lieutenant gubernatorial	1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968
Other state executive offices	Attorney General 2018 2022 Secretary of State 2022 Comptroller 2016
State Senate	2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State House	2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State judicial	1936 1938 1940 1942 1948 1960 1962 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Ballot measures and referendums	State capitol referendum (1834) Cutback Amendment (1980) Crime Victim Rights Amendment (1992) Governor Recall Amendment (2010) Public Pension Amendment (2012) Marsy's Law (2014) Right to Vote Amendment (2014) Transporation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment (2016) Fair Tax (2020)
Chicago mayoral	1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 (Mar) 1844 (Apr) 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1876 (Apr) 1876 (Jul) 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889 1891 1893 (Apr) 1893 (Dec) 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1977 1979 1983 1987 1989 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Chicago City Council	1923 1927 1929 2015 2019
Other municipal	1924 Cicero
Cook County	1946 1980 (State's Attorney) 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022