Illinois 2018 Election Results

Illinois held its general election on November 6, 2018, deciding 157 legislative seats and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Democrats ended four years of divided government by ousting Gov. Bruce Rauner, and House Speaker Michael Madigan reclaimed his three-fifths supermajority, giving the new Democratic trifecta veto-proof margins in both chambers.
• JB Pritzker (D) scored a swift and decisive victory over Gov. Bruce Rauner (R), winning by about 16 points; third-party candidate Sam McCann (CSV) drew about 4%. Running mate Juliana Stratton (D) became the state's first African-American lieutenant governor.
• Most legislative gains came in the suburban counties around Chicago, which lurched decisively to the left:
  • House Republican floor leader Peter Breen (R) lost his DuPage seat to Terra Costa Howard (D) by 7 points in House District 48. Diane Pappas (D) unseated Christine Winger (R) in District 45, and Anne Stava-Murray (D), a newcomer who had refused state party money while Madigan chaired the party, narrowly beat Rep. David Olsen (R) in District 81.
  • In House District 51, appointed Rep. Helene Miller Walsh (R) led by one vote on election night before late ballots gave Mary Edly-Allen (D) a win by about 370 votes.
  • Senate Democrats picked up three seats. Suzy Glowiak (D) beat Sen. Chris Nybo (R) in Senate District 24, Ann Gillespie (D) beat appointed Sen. Tom Rooney (R) in District 27, and Laura Ellman (D) beat Sen. Michael Connelly (R) in District 21. Connelly conceded two weeks later, once 14,000 DuPage mail ballots were counted.
• Democrats also flipped four more House seats. They won open Republican seats in District 49 (Karina Villa (D)) and District 53 (Mark Walker (D)). Joyce Mason (D) unseated Sheri Jesiel (R) in Lake County's House District 61, and Lance Yednock (D) beat Jerry Lee Long (R) in District 76. Republicans' lone pickup came in House District 118, where Patrick Windhorst (R) defeated appointed Rep. Natalie Phelps Finnie (D). In House District 54, Rep. Tom Morrison (R) survived by 43 votes.
• Democrats swept the statewide ticket. Kwame Raoul (D) beat Erika Harold (R) by about 12 points for the attorney general's seat Lisa Madigan left open, a race that turned out not very close at all despite predictions of a nail-biter. Comptroller Susana Mendoza (D), Treasurer Michael Frerichs (D), and Secretary of State Jesse White (D) won re-election comfortably.
• In all, 12 legislative seats changed parties. Beyond the flips, 6 legislative races finished inside two points, and 68 seats went uncontested.

Legislature

• House (118 seats): 67 D, 51 R before the election, 74 D, 44 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (59 seats): 37 D, 22 R before the election, 40 D, 19 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Statewide races

Legislative races