1972 Illinois elections

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 7, 1972.[1]

1972 Illinois elections

November 7, 1972
Turnout	78.52%

Primaries were held on March 21, 1972.[1]

Election information

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 39.90%, with a total of 2,228,605 ballots cast. 1,563,193 Democratic and 665,412 Republican primary ballots were cast.[1]

Turnout during the general election was 78.52%, with 4,880,213 ballots cast.[1]

Federal elections

United States President

Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.

United States Senate

Incumbent Charles H. Percy, a Republican, won reelection.

United States House

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1972. Seats had seen redistricting due to the results of the 1970 United States Census. Illinois did not lose any congressional seats during reapportionment. As of 2020, this is the last time that Illinois has not lost any congressional districts during a post-census reapportionment.

Before the election, both the Democratic and Republican parties held 12 seats from Illinois. In 1972, Republicans won 14 seats, while Democrats won 10 seats.

State elections

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

1972 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 7, 1972
Turnout	75.28%[1]
Nominee Dan Walker Richard B. Ogilvie Party Democratic Republican Running mate Neil Hartigan James D. Nowlan Popular vote 2,371,303 2,293,809 Percentage 50.7% 49.0%
County Results Walker:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Ogilvie:      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election Richard B. Ogilvie Republican Elected Governor Dan Walker Democratic

Incumbent Republican Richard B. Ogilvie lost to Democrat Dan Walker.

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon did not seek reelection to a second term, instead opting to (ultimately unsuccessfully) seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Democrat Neil Hartigan was elected to succeed him.

This was the first gubernatorial elections in which gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates were elected on a ticket in the general election, per the 1970 Constitution of Illinois.

1972 gubernatorial election, Illinois[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Walker/Neil F. Hartigan	2,371,303	50.68
	Republican	Richard B. Ogilvie (incumbent)/James D. Nowland	2,293,809	49.02
	Socialist Labor	George LaForest/Stanley L. Prorok	7,966	0.17
	Communist	Ishmael Flory/Theodore Pearson	4,592	0.10
	Write-in	Others	1,373	0.03
Total votes			4,679,043

Attorney General

1972 Illinois Attorney General election

November 7, 1972
Turnout	72.87%[1]
Nominee William J. Scott Thomas G. Lyons Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,898,198 1,613,103 Percentage 63.99% 35.62%
Attorney General before election William J. Scott Republican Elected Attorney General William J. Scott Republican

Incumbent Attorney General William J. Scott, a Republican, was elected to a second term.

Democratic primary

Illinois State Senator Thomas G. Lyons won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Attorney General Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas G. Lyons	954,194	100
	Write-in	Others	33	0.00
Total votes			954,227	100

Republican primary

Incumbent William J. Scott won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

Attorney General Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Scott (incumbent)	546,308	100
	Write-in	Others	7	0.00
Total votes			546,315	100

General election

Attorney General election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William J. Scott (incumbent)	2,898,198	63.99
	Democratic	Thomas G. Lyons	1,613,103	35.62
	Socialist Labor	George P. Milonas	10,509	0.23
	Communist	Nancy J. Cohen	6,624	0.15
	Write-in	Others	402	0.01
Total votes			4,528,836	100

Secretary of State

1972 Illinois Secretary of State election

November 7, 1972
Turnout	73.47%[1]
Nominee Michael Howlett Edmund J. Kucharski Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,360,327 2,187,554 Percentage 51.69% 47.90%
Secretary of State before election John W. Lewis Jr. Republican Elected Secretary of State Michael Howlett Democratic

Incumbent Secretary of State John W. Lewis Jr., a Republican, had been appointed in 1970. He did not seek reelection. Democrat Michael Howlett was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts Michael J. Howlett won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Secretary of State Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alan J. Dixon	1,039,947	100
	Write-in	Others	20	0.00
Total votes			1,039,967	100

Republican primary

Edmund J. Kucharski won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

Secretary of State Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Edmund J. Kucharski	503,473	100
	Write-in	Others	16	0.00
Total votes			503,489	100

General election

Secretary of State election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Howlett	2,360,327	51.69
	Republican	Edmund J. Kucharski	2,187,554	47.90
	Socialist Labor	Elizabeth Schnur	12,419	0.27
	Communist	Frances Gabow	6,079	0.13
	Write-in	Others	281	0.01
Total votes			4,566,660	100

Comptroller

1972 Illinois State Comptroller election

November 7, 1972
Turnout	69.74%[1]
Nominee George W. Lindberg Dean Barringer Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,217,440 2,094,798 Percentage 51.15% 48.33%
Auditor of Public Accounts before election Michael Howlett Democratic State Comptroller George W. Lindberg Republican

Comptroller was a newly-formed office, created by the 1970 Constitution of Illinois to replace the office of Auditor of Public Accounts, of which the outgoing incumbent was Democrat Michael Howlett, who instead opted to run for Secretary of State. Republican George W. Lindberg was elected the inaugural Illinois Comptroller.

Democratic primary

Dean Barringer won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Comptroller Democratic primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dean Barringer	913,221	71.82
	Write-in	Others	11	0.00
Total votes			913,232	100

Republican primary

George W. Lindberg won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

Comptroller Republican primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George W. Lindberg	480,769	100
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			480,772	100

General election

Comptroller election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George W. Lindberg	2,217,440	51.16
	Democratic	Dean Barringer	2,094,798	48.33
	Socialist Labor	Clarys L. Essex	12,797	0.30
	Communist	Nathan Sharpe	9,325	0.22
	Write-in	Others	287	0.01
Total votes			4,334,647	100

State Senate

Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1972. Republicans flipped control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1972. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1970. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1972 Trustees of University of Illinois election

November 7, 1972

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois system.

The election saw the reelection of three-term former member Republican Park Livingston and first-term Republican incumbent Ralph Crane Hahn, as well as the election of new Republican member Jane S. Hayes Rader.[1][2]

Democratic incumbent Robert B. Pogue (elected in a special election two years earlier) lost reelection.[1][2]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph C. Hahn (incumbent)	2,204,218	17.47
	Republican	Jane S. Hayes Rader	2,199,006	17.42
	Republican	Park Livingston	2,168,248	17.18
	Democratic	Ellen Augustyn	2,014,589	15.96
	Democratic	Nicholas J. Bosen	1,974,000	15.64
	Democratic	Roger B. Pogue (incumbent)	1,938,476	15.36
	Socialist Labor	Edwin L. Williams	28,855	0.23
	Socialist Labor	Henry Schilling	23,168	0.18
	Socialist Labor	Gregory P. Lyngas	19,838	0.16
	Communist	John Robert Lumpkin	17,865	0.14
	Communist	Jack Kling	15,880	0.13
	Communist	William R. Fugate	15,699	0.12
	Write-in	Others	553	0.00
Total votes			12,620,395	100

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1972.[1]

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 7, 1972 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 21, 1972" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
2. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.