This was the only time in Illinois history that the state had the elected a governor and a lieutenant governor from different political parties (there were, however, instances in Illinois where an appointed lieutenant governor had been of a different political party than the governor).
Due to changes implemented by the passage of the 1970 Constitution of Illinois, in all subsequent elections, gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates have been jointly elected on a ticket. Therefore, this was the last Illinois election held for the sole purpose of electing a lieutenant governor.
The Clerk of the Supreme Court was Cleli Woods, who took office after the death in office of Fae Searcy earlier in 1968.
The 1970 Constitution of Illinois made it so that the office would become an appointive office by 1975, thus rendering the 1968 election the last instance in which an election was held for this office.
Democratic primary[]
Clerk of the Supreme Court Democratic primary[1][2]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Fannie G. Jones
565,289
100
Write-in
Others
5
0.00
Total votes
565,294
100
Republican primary[]
Incumbent Clerk of the Supreme Court Fae Searcydied in office on March 25, 1968. However, she had already filed to be on the ballot before her death.[4] Instead of being listed by her own name, Fae Searcy opted to be listed on the ballot as "Ms. Earle Benjamin Searcy".[1][2] Searcy remained on the ballot, and received 32% of the vote, despite being dead. However, outperformed her, with 45.01% of the vote, winning the nomination.
Clerk of the Supreme Court Republican primary[1][2]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
264,959
45.01
Republican
Fae Searcy (deceased; was incumbent at time of death)
Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.
State House of Representatives[]
Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1968. Republicans retained control of the chamber.
Trustees of University of Illinois[]
1968 Trustees of University of Illinois election
← 1966
November 5, 1968
1970 →
An election using cumulative voting was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.
The election saw the reelection of incumbent third-term Republican Timothy W. Swain and incumbent second-term Republican member Earl M. Hughes and the election of new Republican member Russell W. "Ruck" Steger.[1][5]
Incumbent Democrat Kenney E. Williamson (appointed in 1967 after the death in office of Wayne A. Johnston) lost reelection.[1][5]
Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][5]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Timothy W. Swain (incumbent)
2,246,505
17.49
Republican
Earl M. Hughes (incumbent)
2,222,696
17.30
Republican
Russell W. Steger
2,176,223
16.94
Democratic
Kenney E. Williamson (incumbent)
2,063,859
16.06
Democratic
Timothy R. Ives
2,043,974
15.91
Democratic
Frances Best Watkins
2,003,652
15.60
Socialist Labor
Edwin L. Williams
33,031
0.26
Socialist Labor
Henry Schilling
31,399
0.24
Socialist Labor
Clarys L. Essex
26,768
0.21
Write-in
Others
2
0.00
Total votes
12,848,109
100
Judicial elections[]
Judicial elections were held, including two elections to fill vacancies on the Illinois Appellate Court.[1]
Ballot measures[]
Three ballot measures were up for election in 1968, a legislatively referred state statute, a bond measure, and a call for a constitutional convention.[1]
In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute.[1] Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.[1] A call for a constitutional convention required votes equal to a majority of the all ballots cast in the general election.[1]
Illinois Banking Act[]
Illinois Banking Act was approved by voters as a legislatively referred state statue.[1] It enabled Illinois state banks to have foreign branches.[6]
Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act, a legislatively referred bond question, failed to pass.[1][7] It proposed a $1 billion bond act for the development of natural resources.[7]
Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.[1] In this election, the highest turnout for a chamber's elections was 4,268,956, so the needed vote total for the measure to have pass would have been 2,134,479.[1]
Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act[1][7]
Option
Votes
% of highest legislative vote cast
Yes
1,656,600
38.81
No
1,216,814
28.50
Total votes
2,873,414
67.31
Voter turnout
50.62%
Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention[]
In 1968, voters were presented with a referendum on whether or not to call a constitutional convention.[8][9] This was the first such vote held in the State of Illinois since 1934.[9] The chief sponsor of the legislation which created this ballot measure was Senate Republican leader W. Russell Arrington.[10] Democratic Governor Otto Kerner Jr. was supportive of holding a constitutional convention.[10]
The call for the constitutional required the votes of an equal majority of all ballots cast in the 1968 general elections.[1]
A constitutional convention was subsequently held, and the resulting Constitution of Illinois was approved by Illinois voters in a 1970 special election.[9]
Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention[1][11]
Federal government
State government
Ballot measures and referendums
Chicago
Elections in Illinois