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.
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| Turnout | 74.84% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results
Moseley Braun: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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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]
Background
editThe primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (president and House), as well as those for state offices.[1][2]
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
editCandidates
edit- Carol Moseley Braun, Cook County Recorder of Deeds and former State Representative
- Alan J. Dixon, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Albert Hofeld, attorney
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Moseley Braun | 557,694 | 38.3% | |
| Democratic | Alan J. Dixon (incumbent) | 504,077 | 34.6% | |
| Democratic | Albert Hofeld | 394,497 | 27.1% | |
| Total votes | 1,456,268 | 100.0% | ||
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
Analysis
editThis 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
editRichard S. Williamson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard S. Williamson | 608,079 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 608,079 | 100.00% | ||
General election
editCandidates
editMajor
edit- Carol Moseley Braun (D), Cook County Recorder of Deeds, former State Rep.
- Richard S. Williamson (R), former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
Minor
edit- Kathleen Kaku (SW)
- Chad Koppie (I)
- Alan J. Port (NA)
- Andrew B. Spiegel (L)
- Charles A. Winter (NL)
Results
editMoseley 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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carol Moseley Braun | 2,631,229 | 53.27 | ||
| Republican | Richard S. Williamson | 2,126,833 | 43.06 | ||
| Independent | Chad Koppie | 100,422 | 2.03 | ||
| Libertarian | Andrew B. Spiegel | 34,527 | 0.70 | ||
| Natural Law | Charles A. Winter | 15,118 | 0.31 | ||
| New Alliance | Alan J. Port | 12,689 | 0.26 | ||
| Socialist Workers | Kathleen Kaku | 10,056 | 0.20 | ||
| Populist | John Justice | 8,656 | 0.16 | ||
| Write-in | Don A. Togersen | 25 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | Walter A. Feiss | 1 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | Roe Conn | 1 | 0.00 | ||
| Turnout | 4,939,557 | 74.84 | |||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "State of Illinois official vote cast at the primary election held on ..." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ a b "State of Illinois official vote cast at the general election ." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ a b "United States Senator". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
- ^ Charles Babington and Dan Balz (August 17, 2005). "Democrats Feel Heat From Left On Roberts". The Washington Post. Washington Post Company. p. A01.
Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said [...] 'History shows us that voters turned on Alan Dixon for his vote on Clarence Thomas and voters gave Arlen Specter the toughest reelection of his life.'