1960 Illinois elections

1960 Illinois elections

← 1958 November 8, 1960 1962 →
Turnout	88.11%

Elections in Illinois
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v t

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 8, 1960.^[1]

Primaries were held on April 12.^[1][2]

Election information[]

Turnout[]

In the primaries, turnout was 40.92%, with 2,082,667 ballots cast (1,171,488 Democratic and 911,179 Republican).^[1][2][3]

In the general election, turnout was 88.11%, with 4,845,319 ballots cast.^[1][3]

Federal elections[]

United States President[]

Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

United States Senate[]

Democratic Senator Paul Douglas was reelected to a third term.

United States House[]

All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1960.

No seats switched parties, leaving Illinois' House delegation to consist of 14 Democrats and 11 Republicans.

State elections[]

Governor[]

1960 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →
Turnout	84.99%[3][4]
Nominee Otto Kerner Jr. William Stratton Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,418,394 2,239,095 Percentage 51.9% 48.1%
Governor before election William Stratton Republican Elected Governor Otto Kerner Jr. Democratic

Incumbent Governor William Stratton, a Republican seeking a third term, lost reelection to Democrat Otto Kerner Jr.

General election[]

Gubernatorial election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Otto Kerner Jr.	2,594,731	55.51
	Republican	William G. Stratton (incumbent)	2,070,479	44.30
	Socialist Labor	Edward C. Cross	8,976	0.19
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			4,674,187	100

Lieutenant Governor[]

1960 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →
Turnout	83.10%[3][4]
Nominee Samuel H. Shapiro John William Chapman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,398,746 2,162,643 Percentage 52.49% 47.32%
Lieutenant Governor before election John William Chapman Republican Elected Lieutenant Governor Samuel H. Shapiro Democratic

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor John William Chapman, a Republican seeking a third term, lost reelection to Democrat Samuel H. Shapiro.

Democratic primary[]

Lieutenant Governor Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Samuel H. Shapiro	559,341	58.49
	Democratic	Robert W. McGaw	247,164	25.85
	Democratic	John L. "Jake" Wellinghoff	149,739	15.66
Total votes			956,244	100

Republican primary[]

Lieutenant Governor Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John William Chapman (incumbent)	592,812	80.01
	Republican	Wetzel G. Harness	148,123	19.99
Total votes			740,935	100

General election[]

Lieutenant Governor election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Samuel H. Shapiro	2,398,746	52.49
	Republican	John William Chapman (incumbent)	2,162,643	47.32
	Socialist Labor	Elizabeth Mitroff	8,494	0.19
Total votes			4,569,883	100

Attorney General[]

1960 Illinois Attorney General election

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →
Turnout	82.80%[3][4]
Nominee William G. Clark William L. Guild Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,354,886 2,190,251 Percentage 51.72% 48.10%
Attorney General before election William L. Guild Republican Elected Attorney General William G. Clark Democratic

Incumbent Attorney General William L. Guild (a Republican appointed in 1960 after the death in office of Grenville Beardsley) lost to Democrat William G. Clark.

Originally, before his death, Grenville Beardsley (himself a Republican that had been appointed in 1959 after Latham Castle resigned to assume a judgeship) had been seeking reelection, having won the Republican primary.

Democratic primary[]

Attorney General Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William G. Clark	800,132	100
Total votes			800,132	100

Republican primary[]

Attorney General Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Grenville Beardsley (incumbent)	685,967	100
	Write-in	Others	1	0.00
Total votes			685,968	100

General election[]

Attorney General election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William G. Clark	2,354,886	51.72
	Republican	William L. Guild (incumbent)	2,190,251	48.10
	Socialist Labor	George P. Milonas	8,387	0.18
Total votes			4,553,524	100

Secretary of State[]

1960 Illinois Secretary of State election

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →
Turnout	84.26%[3][4]
Nominee Charles F. Carpentier James R. McLaughlin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,505,255 2,120,339 Percentage 54.06% 45.76%
Secretary of State before election Charles F. Carpentier Republican Elected Secretary of State Charles F. Carpentier Republican

Incumbent Secretary of State Charles F. Carpentier, a Republican, was reelected to a third term.

Democratic primary[]

Secretary of State Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James R. McLaughlin	810,749	100
Total votes			810,749	100

Republican primary[]

Secretary of State Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles F. Carpentier (incumbent)	762,305	100
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			762,308	100

General election[]

Secretary of State election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles F. Carpentier (incumbent)	2,505,255	54.06
	Democratic	James R. McLaughlin	2,120,339	45.76
	Socialist Labor	Gregory P. Lyngas	8,234	0.18
Total votes			4,633,828	100

Auditor of Public Accounts[]

1960 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election

← 1956 November 8, 1960 1964 →
Turnout	82.79%[3][4]
Nominee Michael Howlett Elbert S. Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,296,220 2,246,833 Percentage 50.44% 49.35
Auditor of Public Accounts before election Elbert S. Smith Republican Elected Auditor of Public Accounts Michael Howlett Democratic

Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Elbert S. Smith, a Republican seeking a second term, lost to Democrat Michael Howlett.

Democratic primary[]

Auditor of Public Accounts Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett	792,853	100
Total votes			792,853	100

Republican primary[]

Auditor of Public Accounts Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elbert S. Smith (incumbent)	688,081	100
	Democratic	Write-in	1	0.00
Total votes			688,082	100

General election[]

Auditor of Public Accounts election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett	2,296,220	50.44
	Republican	Elbert S. Smith (incumbent)	2,246,833	49.35
	Socialist Labor	Stanley L. Prorok	9,789	0.01
Total votes			4,552,842	100

State Senate[]

Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1960. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives[]

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1960. Republicans flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois[]

1960 Trustees of University of Illinois election

← 1958 November 8, 1960 1962 →

An election was held for three seats as Trustees of University of Illinois.^[4] All three Democratic nominees won.^[4]

Democratic incumbent Kenney E. Williamson, first appointed in 1940, won reelection to a third full (fourth overall) term.^[5] Democratic incumbent Frances Best Watkins won reelection to a third term.^[5] They were joined in winning election by fellow Democrat Irving Dillard.^[4][5]

Incumbent Democrat George Herrick was not nominated for reelection.^[5]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election^[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Irving Dillard	2,356,777	17.41
	Democratic	Kenney E. Williamson (incumbent)	2,335,857½	17.26
	Democratic	Frances Best Watkins (incumbent)	2,310,181½	17.07
	Republican	C. E. "Ernie" Lovejoy	2,199,230	16.25
	Republican	Audrey Reavis Peak	2,172,490	16.05
	Republican	Thomas O. Matthews	2,130,062	15.74
	Socialist Labor	Bernard Campbell	10,065	0.07
	Socialist Labor	Margaret Deneff	9,660	0.07
	Socialist Labor	Henery Schilling	9,638	0.07
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			13,533,961	100

Judicial elections[]

1960 Illinois judicial elections

← 1959 June 6, 1960 1961 →

Judicial elections were held in 1960.

Supreme Court[]

First Supreme Court Judicial District[]

First Supreme Court Judicial District^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Byron O. House (incumbent)	59,114	53.69
	Democratic	Robert Zachariah Hickman	50,240	45.63
	Others	Others	744	0.68
Total votes			110,098	100

Second Supreme Court Judicial District[]

Second Supreme Court Judicial District ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harry B. Hershey (incumbent)	3,345	94.49
	Others	Others	195	5.51
Total votes			3,540	100

Third Supreme Court Judicial District[]

Third Supreme Court Judicial District^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George W. Bristow (incumbent)	3,558	99.44
	Others	Others	20	0.56
Total votes			3,578	100

Lower courts[]

On April 12, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.^[2]

Ballot measures[]

Two ballot measures, both of them bond issues, were put before Illinois voters in 1960.

Bond measures needed an affirmative vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.^[4] Since, in 1960, the highest legislative vote was 4,525,191, the vote count needed to be reached was at least 2,262,596 affirmative votes.^[4] The vote also needed a majority of votes cast on each measure to be affirmative.

Bond Issue for Education[]

Voters approved the Bond Issue for Education, which issued bonds to support improvements in education.^[6]

Bond Issue for Education[3][4][6]
Option	Votes	% of highest legislative vote cast
Yes	2,633,869	58.21
No	1,266,490	27.98
Total votes	3,900,359	86.19
Voter turnout	70.92%

Bond Issue for Mental Health[]

Voters approved the Bond Issue for Mental Health, which would issue bonds to support improvements mental health and public welfare.^[7]

Bond Issue for Mental Health[3][4][7]
Option	Votes	% of highest legislative vote cast
Yes	2,967,527	65.58
No	973,075	21.50
Total votes	3,940,602	87.08
Voter turnout	71.65%

Local elections[]

Local elections were held.

References[]