1976 Illinois gubernatorial election

1976 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 2, 1976

Nominee James R. Thompson Michael J. Howlett Party Republican Democratic Running mate David C. O'Neal Neil Hartigan Popular vote 3,000,395 1,610,258 Percentage 64.68% 34.71%

County Results Thompson:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Howlett:      50–60%

Governor before election Dan Walker Democratic Elected Governor James R. Thompson Republican

Thompson joins President Gerald Ford on a whistle stop in Springfield

Gubernatorial elections were held in Illinois on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Governor Dan Walker lost renomination in favor of Secretary of State Michael J. Howlett, who was a Daley ally. Howlett then lost the general election to Republican James R. Thompson.

Election information

This election was for a two-year term which would synchronize future gubernatorial elections with midterm election years, rather than presidential election years, as the 1970 Constitution of Illinois required gubernatorial elections to be held in midterm election years starting in 1978. The previous election had been in 1976.

The election coincided with those for federal offices (United States President and House) and those for other state offices. The election was part of the 1976 Illinois elections.

Democratic primary

The incumbent Governor, Dan Walker, had a contentious relationship with the Daley Machine, which backed Secretary of State Michael J. Howlett. Walker carried most of the state's counties, but Howlett carried Cook county by a wide margin and was ultimately nominated.

Dark Blue denotes a county carried by Howlett, and Light Blue by Walker.

1976 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Illinois

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett	811,721	53.82
	Democratic	Dan Walker (incumbent)	696,380	46.17
	Democratic	write-ins	245	0.02	n−a
Majority			115,341	7.65
Turnout			1,508,346

Republican primary

Thompson won the Republican Primary in a landslide, carrying every county.

1976 Republican gubernatorial primary, Illinois

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	James R. Thompson	625,457	86.44
	Republican	Richard H. Cooper	97,937	13.54
	Republican	write-ins	170	0.02	n−a
Majority			527,484	29.97
Turnout			723,564

General election

1976 gubernatorial election, Illinois

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	James R. Thompson	3,000,365	64.68
	Democratic	Michael J. Howlett	1,610,258	34.71
	Communist	Ishmael Flory	10,091	0.22
	Libertarian	F. Joseph McCaffrey	7,552	0.16
	Socialist Workers	Suzanne Haig	4,926	0.11
	Socialist Labor	George LaForest	3,147	0.07
	U.S. Labor	Edward Waffle	2,302	0.05
	N/A	write-ins	369	0.01	n−a
Majority			1,390,137	29.97
Turnout			3,150,107
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing