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2000 United States presidential election in Illinois

Main article: 2000 United States presidential election

The 2000 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. Voters chose 22 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

2000 United States presidential election in Illinois
← 1996 November 7, 2000 2004 →
Turnout66.52%
 
Nominee Al Gore George W. Bush
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Tennessee Texas
Running mate Joe Lieberman Dick Cheney
Electoral vote 22 0
Popular vote 2,589,026 2,019,421
Percentage 54.60% 42.58%
President before election

Bill Clinton
Democratic

Elected President

George W. Bush
Republican

Illinois was easily won by sitting Vice President Al Gore of the State of Tennessee, unlike other states in the Midwest, such as nearby Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, which Gore won, albeit by much smaller margins. George W. Bush, Republican of Texas, did not perform terribly at the county level, as he obtained less than forty percent of the vote in only three counties. Gore's key to victory was Cook County, home of Chicago, by far the most populous county in the state and one of the most populated counties in the nation. Gore won that county with almost seventy percent of the vote, his best performance in any county in the state.[1]

The election marked the first time since 1976 that Illinois did not vote for the winning presidential nominee and marked an end to Illinois’ status as a bellwhether state, as it had voted for the winning candidate all but two times in the 20th-century, making it tied with Missouri as having the most consistent streak of backing the winner in that century. Bush became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Illinois; he also became the first Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Champaign, Peoria, or Whiteside Counties.[2] It was additionally the first election in which the Republicans outperformed in Southern Illinois, a previous Democratic stronghold. This was also the first time since 1848 that a Democrat would carry Illinois without winning the presidency.

Illinois was one of ten states that backed George H. W. Bush for president in 1988 that didn't back George W. Bush in either 2000 or 2004.

Primaries

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The primaries and general elections coincided with those for congress and those for state offices.

Turnout

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See also: 2000 Illinois elections § Turnout

For the state-run primaries (Democratic and Republican), turnout was 22.92%, with 1,546,588 votes cast.[3][4] For the general election, turnout was 66.52%, with 4,742,123 votes cast.[3][4]

Democratic

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2000 Illinois Democratic presidential primary
 
← 1996 March 21, 2000 (2000-03-21) 2004 →
190 Democratic National Convention delegates (161 pledged, 29 unpledged)
The number of pledged delegates received is determined by the popular vote
     
Candidate Al Gore Bill Bradley
withdrawn
Home state Tennessee New Jersey
Delegate count 149 12
Popular vote 682,932 115,320
Percentage 84.35% 14.24%

The 2000 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 21, 2000, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 2000 presidential election.[5]

161 of the state's 190 delegates were pledged delegates elected in the primary (the remaining 29 delegates were superdelegates).[5] Of the 161 pledged delegates, 35 were elected based upon the statewide popular vote, with the remaining 126 being elected based upon congressional district popular votes.[5] In order to receive delegates from either the popular vote of either the state at-large of the popular vote of a congressional district, a candidate needed to reach the threshold of 15% or more of said vote.[5]

2000 Illinois Democratic presidential primary[4][5]
Candidate Votes % Delegates
Al Gore 682,932 84.35 149
Bill Bradley withdrew 115,320 14.24 12
Lyndon LaRouche 11,415 1.41 0
Total 809,667 100% 161

Republican

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2000 Illinois Republican presidential primary
 
← 1996 March 21, 2000 (2000-03-21) 2004 →
74 Republican National Convention delegates (64 pledged, 10 unpledged)
Pledged delegates directly-elected in vote separate from statewide presidential preference vote
       
Candidate George W. Bush John McCain
withdrawn 		Alan Keyes
Home state Texas Arizona Maryland
Delegate count 64 0 0
Popular vote 496,685 158,768 66,066
Percentage 67.40% 21.54% 8.97%
Main article: 2000 Illinois Republican presidential primary

The 2000 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 21, 2000, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 2000 presidential election.[6]

Illinois assigned 60 directly elected delegates (the state had another 10 delegates that were not directly elected by voters).[6] The Illinois primary was a so-called "Loophole" primary. This meant that the statewide presidential preference vote was a "beauty contest", from which no delegates would be assigned. Instead, the delegates were assigned by separate direct-votes on delegate candidates (whose proclaimed presidential preferences were listed beside their names on the ballot).[6] These delegates were noted voted on at-large by a state vote, but rather by congressional district votes.[6] The number of delegates each congressional district would be able to elect had been decided based upon the strength of that district's vote for the Republican nominee (Bob Dole) in the previous 1996 election.[6]

The remaining ten delegates not directly elected by congressional district were selected at the Illinois Republican Party Convention, and were unpledged delegates.[6]

2000 Illinois Republican presidential primary[4][5]
Candidate Votes % Delegates
George W. Bush 496,685 67.40 64
John McCain withdrawn 158,768 21.54 0
Alan Keyes 66,066 8.97 0
Steve Forbes withdrawn 10,334 1.40 0
Gary Bauer withdrawn 5,068 0.69 0
Total 736,921 100% 64

Results

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2000 United States presidential election in Illinois
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Al Gore Joe Lieberman 2,589,026 54.6% 22
Republican George W. Bush Dick Cheney 2,019,421 42.6% 0
Green Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke 103,759 2.2% 0
Reform Pat Buchanan Ezola Foster 16,106 0.3% 0
Libertarian Harry Browne Wayne Allyn Root 11,623 0.3% 0
Natural Law John Hagelin Mary Alice Herbert 2,127 0.0% 0
Constitution Howard Phillips Michael Peroutka 57 0.0% 0
Write In David McReynolds - 4 0.0% 0
Totals 4,742,123 100.00% 3
Voter turnout (Voting age/Registered) 52%/67%

Results by county

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County Al Gore
Democratic 		George W. Bush
Republican 		Ralph Nader
Green 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total
# % # % # % # % # %
Adams 12,197 40.51% 17,331 57.56% 371 1.23% 210 0.70% -5,134 -17.05% 30,109
Alexander 2,357 58.60% 1,588 39.48% 28 0.70% 49 1.22% 769 19.12% 4,022
Bond 3,060 43.52% 3,804 54.10% 113 1.61% 55 0.78% -744 -10.58% 7,032
Boone 6,481 41.75% 8,617 55.51% 325 2.09% 100 0.64% -2,136 -13.76% 15,523
Brown 1,077 40.49% 1,529 57.48% 29 1.09% 25 0.94% -452 -16.99% 2,660
Bureau 7,754 46.09% 8,526 50.68% 363 2.16% 180 1.07% -772 -4.59% 16,823
Calhoun 1,310 50.35% 1,229 47.23% 42 1.61% 21 0.81% 81 3.12% 2,602
Carroll 3,113 43.37% 3,835 53.43% 154 2.15% 75 1.05% -722 -10.06% 7,177
Cass 2,789 47.28% 2,968 50.31% 94 1.59% 48 0.81% -179 -3.03% 5,899
Champaign 35,515 47.81% 34,645 46.64% 3,543 4.77% 582 0.78% 870 1.17% 74,285
Christian 6,799 46.03% 7,537 51.03% 269 1.82% 166 1.12% -738 -5.00% 14,771
Clark 2,932 39.03% 4,398 58.55% 126 1.68% 56 0.75% -1,466 -19.52% 7,512
Clay 2,212 36.06% 3,789 61.76% 78 1.27% 56 0.91% -1,577 -25.70% 6,135
Clinton 6,436 41.72% 8,588 55.67% 295 1.91% 108 0.70% -2,152 -13.95% 15,427
Coles 8,904 44.31% 10,495 52.23% 507 2.52% 187 0.93% -1,591 -7.92% 20,093
Cook 1,280,547 68.63% 534,542 28.65% 42,068 2.25% 8,750 0.47% 746,005 39.98% 1,865,907
Crawford 3,333 39.21% 4,974 58.52% 118 1.39% 75 0.88% -1,641 -19.31% 8,500
Cumberland 1,870 37.59% 2,964 59.58% 72 1.45% 69 1.39% -1,094 -21.99% 4,975
DeKalb 14,798 44.53% 17,139 51.57% 1,032 3.11% 264 0.79% -2,341 -7.04% 33,233
DeWitt 2,870 40.70% 3,968 56.28% 133 1.89% 80 1.13% -1,098 -15.58% 7,051
Douglas 3,215 39.44% 4,734 58.07% 132 1.62% 71 0.87% -1,519 -18.63% 8,152
DuPage 152,550 41.87% 201,037 55.18% 8,711 2.39% 2,064 0.57% -48,487 -13.31% 364,362
Edgar 3,216 39.07% 4,833 58.71% 113 1.37% 70 0.85% -1,617 -19.64% 8,232
Edwards 978 30.00% 2,212 67.85% 42 1.29% 28 0.86% -1,234 -37.85% 3,260
Effingham 4,225 29.17% 9,855 68.04% 213 1.47% 192 1.33% -5,630 -38.87% 14,485
Fayette 3,886 41.61% 5,200 55.69% 122 1.31% 130 1.39% -1,314 -14.08% 9,338
Ford 2,090 33.97% 3,889 63.20% 116 1.89% 58 0.94% -1,799 -29.23% 6,153
Franklin 10,201 53.10% 8,490 44.19% 347 1.81% 174 0.91% 1,711 8.91% 19,212
Fulton 8,940 54.92% 6,936 42.61% 276 1.70% 125 0.77% 2,004 12.31% 16,277
Gallatin 1,878 52.78% 1,591 44.72% 40 1.12% 49 1.38% 287 8.06% 3,558
Greene 2,490 43.18% 3,129 54.26% 93 1.61% 55 0.95% -639 -11.08% 5,767
Grundy 7,516 45.32% 8,709 52.51% 257 1.55% 102 0.62% -1,193 -7.19% 16,584
Hamilton 1,943 42.36% 2,519 54.92% 75 1.64% 50 1.09% -576 -12.56% 4,587
Hancock 4,256 43.92% 5,134 52.98% 161 1.66% 140 1.44% -878 -9.06% 9,691
Hardin 1,184 44.90% 1,366 51.80% 41 1.55% 46 1.74% -182 -6.90% 2,637
Henderson 2,030 52.51% 1,708 44.18% 74 1.91% 54 1.40% 322 8.33% 3,866
Henry 11,921 50.79% 10,896 46.43% 428 1.82% 225 0.96% 1,025 4.36% 23,470
Iroquois 4,397 32.75% 8,685 64.70% 229 1.71% 113 0.84% -4,288 -31.95% 13,424
Jackson 11,773 50.99% 9,823 42.54% 1,228 5.32% 266 1.15% 1,950 8.45% 23,090
Jasper 1,815 36.15% 3,119 62.12% 50 1.00% 37 0.74% -1,304 -25.97% 5,021
Jefferson 6,685 43.52% 8,362 54.44% 211 1.37% 102 0.66% -1,677 -10.92% 15,360
Jersey 4,355 46.27% 4,699 49.92% 231 2.45% 128 1.36% -344 -3.65% 9,413
Jo Daviess 4,585 44.42% 5,304 51.39% 314 3.04% 119 1.15% -719 -6.97% 10,322
Johnson 1,928 35.96% 3,285 61.26% 83 1.55% 66 1.23% -1,357 -25.30% 5,362
Kane 60,127 42.52% 76,996 54.45% 3,274 2.32% 1,008 0.71% -16,869 -11.93% 141,405
Kankakee 19,180 47.73% 20,049 49.89% 713 1.77% 241 0.60% -869 -2.16% 40,183
Kendall 8,444 37.09% 13,688 60.12% 481 2.11% 156 0.69% -5,244 -23.03% 22,769
Knox 12,572 54.25% 9,912 42.77% 455 1.96% 235 1.01% 2,660 11.48% 23,174
Lake 115,058 47.51% 120,988 49.96% 4,843 2.00% 1,275 0.53% -5,930 -2.45% 242,164
LaSalle 23,355 50.76% 21,276 46.25% 992 2.16% 384 0.83% 2,079 4.51% 46,007
Lawrence 2,822 42.90% 3,594 54.64% 101 1.54% 61 0.93% -772 -11.74% 6,578
Lee 6,111 41.80% 8,069 55.19% 320 2.19% 120 0.82% -1,958 -13.39% 14,620
Livingston 5,829 37.80% 9,187 59.57% 285 1.85% 120 0.78% -3,358 -21.77% 15,421
Logan 4,600 35.21% 8,141 62.31% 208 1.59% 116 0.89% -3,541 -27.10% 13,065
Macon 24,262 49.02% 23,830 48.14% 982 1.98% 425 0.86% 432 0.88% 49,499
Macoupin 11,015 51.50% 9,749 45.58% 426 1.99% 199 0.93% 1,266 5.92% 21,389
Madison 59,077 53.17% 48,821 43.94% 2,359 2.12% 847 0.76% 10,256 9.23% 111,104
Marion 8,068 48.42% 8,240 49.45% 238 1.43% 117 0.70% -172 -1.03% 16,663
Marshall 2,570 43.51% 3,145 53.24% 134 2.27% 58 0.98% -575 -9.73% 5,907
Mason 3,192 47.14% 3,411 50.37% 117 1.73% 52 0.77% -219 -3.23% 6,772
Massac 2,912 43.18% 3,676 54.51% 83 1.23% 73 1.08% -764 -11.33% 6,744
McDonough 6,080 46.73% 6,465 49.68% 364 2.80% 103 0.79% -385 -2.95% 13,012
McHenry 40,698 38.33% 62,112 58.49% 2,751 2.59% 624 0.59% -21,414 -20.16% 106,185
McLean 24,936 40.95% 34,008 55.84% 1,546 2.54% 408 0.67% -9,072 -14.89% 60,898
Menard 2,164 34.89% 3,862 62.27% 135 2.18% 41 0.66% -1,698 -27.38% 6,202
Mercer 4,400 52.90% 3,688 44.34% 156 1.88% 74 0.89% 712 8.56% 8,318
Monroe 5,797 42.02% 7,632 55.32% 262 1.90% 105 0.76% -1,835 -13.30% 13,796
Montgomery 6,542 49.97% 6,226 47.55% 191 1.46% 134 1.02% 316 2.42% 13,093
Morgan 5,899 41.15% 8,058 56.22% 253 1.77% 124 0.87% -2,159 -15.07% 14,334
Moultrie 2,529 44.17% 3,058 53.41% 78 1.36% 60 1.05% -529 -9.24% 5,725
Ogle 7,673 37.25% 12,325 59.83% 467 2.27% 136 0.66% -4,652 -22.58% 20,601
Peoria 38,604 50.26% 36,398 47.39% 1,332 1.73% 478 0.62% 2,206 2.87% 76,812
Perry 4,862 48.90% 4,802 48.30% 173 1.74% 105 1.06% 60 0.60% 9,942
Piatt 3,488 41.60% 4,619 55.09% 217 2.59% 61 0.73% -1,131 -13.49% 8,385
Pike 3,198 39.42% 4,706 58.01% 115 1.42% 93 1.15% -1,508 -18.59% 8,112
Pope 927 39.79% 1,346 57.77% 31 1.33% 26 1.12% -419 -17.98% 2,330
Pulaski 1,518 50.33% 1,430 47.41% 31 1.03% 37 1.23% 88 2.92% 3,016
Putnam 1,657 52.12% 1,437 45.20% 58 1.82% 27 0.85% 220 6.92% 3,179
Randolph 6,794 47.55% 7,127 49.88% 229 1.60% 137 0.96% -333 -2.33% 14,287
Richland 2,491 33.54% 4,718 63.52% 134 1.80% 85 1.14% -2,227 -29.98% 7,428
Rock Island 37,957 58.31% 25,194 38.70% 1,364 2.10% 580 0.89% 12,763 19.61% 65,095
Saline 5,427 46.58% 5,933 50.93% 181 1.55% 109 0.94% -506 -4.35% 11,650
Sangamon 38,414 41.99% 50,374 55.06% 2,001 2.19% 696 0.76% -11,960 -13.07% 91,485
Schuyler 1,587 42.07% 2,077 55.06% 72 1.91% 36 0.95% -490 -12.99% 3,772
Scott 954 38.64% 1,458 59.05% 31 1.26% 26 1.05% -504 -20.41% 2,469
Shelby 4,018 39.54% 5,851 57.57% 162 1.59% 132 1.30% -1,833 -18.03% 10,163
St. Clair 55,961 55.74% 42,299 42.13% 1,569 1.56% 564 0.56% 13,662 13.61% 100,393
Stark 1,211 40.52% 1,694 56.67% 55 1.84% 29 0.97% -483 -16.15% 2,989
Stephenson 8,062 41.60% 10,715 55.29% 476 2.46% 125 0.65% -2,653 -13.69% 19,378
Tazewell 25,379 43.50% 31,537 54.05% 1,022 1.75% 410 0.70% -6,158 -10.55% 58,348
Union 3,982 45.98% 4,397 50.77% 189 2.18% 92 1.06% -415 -4.79% 8,660
Vermilion 15,406 47.99% 15,783 49.17% 605 1.88% 306 0.95% -377 -1.18% 32,100
Wabash 1,987 36.07% 3,406 61.84% 75 1.36% 40 0.73% -1,419 -25.77% 5,508
Warren 3,524 46.18% 3,899 51.09% 130 1.70% 78 1.02% -375 -4.91% 7,631
Washington 2,638 36.96% 4,353 60.98% 96 1.34% 51 0.71% -1,715 -24.02% 7,138
Wayne 2,209 28.71% 5,347 69.50% 77 1.00% 60 0.78% -3,138 -40.79% 7,693
White 2,958 38.73% 4,521 59.20% 113 1.48% 45 0.59% -1,563 -20.47% 7,637
Whiteside 12,886 51.88% 11,252 45.30% 515 2.07% 184 0.74% 1,634 6.58% 24,837
Will 90,902 47.43% 95,828 50.00% 3,769 1.97% 1,171 0.61% -4,926 -2.57% 191,670
Williamson 12,192 45.26% 14,012 52.01% 476 1.77% 259 0.96% -1,820 -6.75% 26,939
Winnebago 51,981 47.56% 53,816 49.24% 2,637 2.41% 863 0.79% -1,835 -1.68% 109,297
Woodford 5,529 32.92% 10,905 64.94% 263 1.57% 96 0.57% -5,376 -32.02% 16,793
Totals 2,589,026 54.60% 2,019,421 42.58% 103,759 2.19% 29,917 0.63% 569,605 12.02% 4,742,123

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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By congressional district

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Gore won 11 of 20 congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans.[7]

District Gore Bush Representative
1st 87% 11% Bobby Rush
2nd 88% 11% Jesse Jackson Jr.
3rd 55% 41% Bill Lipinski
4th 78% 18% Luis Gutierrez
5th 63% 33% Rod Blagojevich
6th 45% 52% Henry Hyde
7th 83% 15% Danny K. Davis
8th 42% 56% Phil Crane
9th 70% 26% Jan Schakowsky
10th 53% 45% John Porter
Mark Kirk
11th 53% 45% Jerry Weller
12th 55% 43% Jerry Costello
13th 42% 55% Judy Biggert
14th 42% 55% Dennis Hastert
15th 44% 52% Thomas W. Ewing
Timothy V. Johnson
16th 43% 54% Donald Manzullo
17th 51% 46% Lane Evans
18th 43% 55% Ray LaHood
19th 43% 54% David D. Phelps
20th 46% 52% John Shimkus

Analysis

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Vice President Al Gore easily defeated Texas Governor George W. Bush in the “Land of Lincoln”. Illinois was once reckoned as a swing state or slightly Republican-leaning, but, since Bill Clinton's election in 1992, it swung heavily for the Democrats at the presidential level, remaining heavily Democratic in 1996. The blue trend can chiefly be traced to the explosive increase in the Democratic margins in Cook County, which encompasses Chicago and its inner suburbs and is the second-largest county in the country. In 1996, Bill Clinton reached 66.8% of the vote in Cook County, a level exceeding any nominee's in the county since Warren G. Harding in 1920, and Gore improved on Clinton's vote share in the county still further.

Secondarily, although Bush still retained the famously Republican Chicago collar counties, he underperformed recent competitive Republicans in them. He won DuPage County, the largest collar county, by only 13.3%, as compared to Gerald Ford's 40.5% margin in the county in 1976, and his father's 39.4% margin in 1988 (in both of which cases DuPage County provided the Republican's entire statewide margin).

Bush did do well in much of rural Illinois, although Gore retained a number of counties in the Forgottonia region that had begun going Democratic in 1988. Gore also did well in Metro East, whereas Bush held moderately-populated Sangamon County (Springfield) and McLean County (Bloomington). Ultimately, Gore's overwhelming strength in Cook County was decisive in handing Gore a more than five hundred thousand vote (or 12%) advantage in the state, which was among the first Midwestern states to be called on election night.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Franklin County and Perry County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.[8]

Electors

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Main article: List of 2000 United States presidential electors

Technically the voters of Illinois cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. For this election, Illinois is allocated 22 electors because it has 20 congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 22 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 22 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 18, 2000[9] to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All were pledged to and voted for Gore and Lieberman:[10]

  1. Joan Brennan
  2. Dave Bybee
  3. Vilma Colom
  4. Barbara Flynn Currie
  5. John P. Daley
  6. Vera Davis
  7. James DeLeo
  8. Marge Friedman
  9. Charles A. Hartke
  10. Tinker Harvey
  11. Carolyn Brown Hodge
  12. Constance A. Howard
  13. Mary Lou Kearns
  14. Michael J. Madigan
  15. William Marovitz
  16. Shirley McCombs
  17. Molly McKenzie
  18. Victory McNamara
  19. John Nelson
  20. Donald Pedro
  21. Dan Pierce
  22. Jerry Sinclair

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
  2. ^ "County winners, 1836-2016". Google Docs. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Voter Turnout". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 30, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Illinois Democrat Delegation 2000". www.thegreenpapers.com. The Green Papers. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Illinois Republican Delegation 2000". www.thegreenpapers.com. The Green Papers. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "2000 Presidential General Election Data - Illinois. By Congressional District". US Election Atlas. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  9. ^ "2000 Post-Election Timeline of Events".
  10. ^ "President Elect - 2000". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
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