1982 was a midterm election year in the United States.
Amid the ongoing recession and resultant unpopularity of incumbent Republican president Ronald Reagan, Democrats made significant gains in the national elections for the United States House of Representatives and in the gubernatorial elections.[2][3][4] In Illinois, Democrats made gains in the House of Representatives elections. Democrats also managed to flip control of the office of Illinois Attorney General. While the election was incredibly close, Republican James R. Thompson managed to retain his governorship.
Turnout[]
Turnout in the primary election was 27.38%, with a total of 1,622,410 ballots cast.[5] 949,426 Democratic and 672,984 Republican primary ballots were cast.[1]
Turnout during the general election was 64.65%, with 3,856,875 ballots cast.[5]
Convictions for fraud[]
There were "62 indictments and 58 convictions, many involving precinct captains and election officials. The grand jury concluded that 100,000 fraudulent votes had been cast in the city ... Authorities found massive fraud involving vote buying and ballots cast by others in the names of registered voters. In one case, a ballot punched for the Democratic slate had been tabulated 198 times."[6] The case was prosecuted in November 1982 by US Attorney Dan K. Webb.[7][8]
The gubernatorial election result has been questioned. Some Democrats have alleged that fraud might have been committed by Republicans in areas outside Chicago to secure Thompson his victory.[7] In 2016, Rudy Giuliani suggested that the gubernatorial results had been fraudulent on the part of Chicago Democrats.[9]
In January 1983, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a petition by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Adlai Stevenson III for a full statewide recount, with the majority opinion finding there to be insufficient evidence of either mistakes, fraud, or irregularities to warrant a recount[10]
Federal elections[]
United States House[]
Main article: 1982 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois
See also: 1982 United States House of Representatives elections
Illinois had lost two congressional districts (the 23rd and 24th) in reapportionment following the 1980 United States Census. All 22 of Illinois' remaining seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1982
Before the election, there were 14 Republican and 10 Democratic seats. In 1982, 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans were elected from Illinois.
Incumbent GovernorJames R. Thompson, a Republican, narrowly won reelection to a third term, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson III by merely 5,074 votes.George Ryan joined Thompson on the Republican ticket, and won a first term as Lieutenant Governor.
The election was surprisingly close, as, before the election, Thompson had been favored by polls and predictions to win by roughly twenty percentage points.[12]
Incumbent TreasurerJerome Cosentino, a Democrat, did not run for a second term, instead opting to run for Secretary of State. Democrat James Donnewald was elected to succeed him in office.
As this was the first election after a redistricting, all of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1982. Democrats retained control of the chamber.
State House of Representatives[]
All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1982. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.
Trustees of University of Illinois[]
1982 Trustees of University of Illinois election
← 1980
November 2, 1982
1984 →
An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.
The election saw the reelection incumbents
William D. Forsyth Jr. and George W. Howard, III and the election of new trustee Albert N. Logan Jr.[13][14]
Incumbent second-term Democrat Earl L. Langdon was not renominated.[13][14]
Trustees of the University of Illinois election[13][14]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
William D. Forsyth Jr. (incumbent)
1,865,806
22.95
Democratic
Albert N. Logan
1,775,410
21.84
Democratic
George W. Howard, III (incumbent)
1,739,795
21.40
Republican
Jane Hayes Rader
1,403,554
17.26
Republican
Park Livingston
1,252,356
15.40
Republican
Larry Gougler
1,234,911
15.19
Taxpayers
Helen Louise Wells
209,396
2.58
Taxpayers
Robert Joseph Loftus
133,157
1.64
Taxpayers
Phoebe T. Dover
131,786
1.62
Libertarian
Michael Edward Stack
92,501
1.14
Libertarian
Joseph Maxwell
81,901
1.01
Libertarian
Geoffrey S. Nathan
76,064
0.95
Total votes
8,130,831
100
Judicial elections[]
Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1982.
Ballot measure[]
Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1982.[15] In order to be approved, the measures required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[15]
Bail Amendment[]
Voters approved the Bail Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1"), a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Illinois to expanded the population that could be denied bail to include those who committed an offense that could result in a life imprisonment sentence.[15][16]
Federal government
State government
Ballot measures and referendums
Chicago
Elections in Illinois