1996 Cook County, Illinois, elections
November 5, 1996
Turnout64.37%

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 5, 1996.[1]

Primaries were held March 19, 1996.[2]

Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, State's Attorney, three seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Election information

1996 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President, House, and Senate) and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Primary election

Turnout in the primaries was 30.39%, with 776,069 ballots cast.[3] Chicago saw 35.02% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 25.46% turnout.[4][5]

Vote totals of primaries[2]
PrimaryChicago vote totalsSuburban Cook County vote totalsTotal Cook County vote totals
Democratic420,288144,103564,391
Republican39,967159,378199,345
Harold Washington Party42672498
Harold Washington Party/Democratic5,1085595,667
Harold Washington Party/Republican22444268
Libertarian267318585
Nonpartisan175,2985,315
Total466,297309,772776,069

General election

The general election saw turnout of 64.37%, with 1,774,961 ballots cast.[4] Chicago saw 63.17% turnout (with 902,514 ballots cast), and suburban Cook County saw 65.66% turnout (with 872,447 ballots cast).[1][4][5]

Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a straight-ticket voting option in 1996.[1] This would be the last Cook County election with straight-ticket voting, as it would be abolished in Illinois in 1997.[6]

Party Number of
straight-ticket
votes[1]
Democratic 511,115
Republican 204,349
Harold Washington 2,062
Libertarian 1,992
Reform 8,881
U.S. Taxpayers' 234
Justice 952

Clerk of the Circuit Court

1996 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election
November 5, 1996
Turnout59.55%[1][4]
 
Candidate Aurelia Pucinski Sandra M. Stavropoulos
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,149,216 397,191
Percentage 70.37% 24.32%
Clerk before election

Aurelia Pucinski
Democratic

 Elected Clerk

Aurelia Pucinski
Democratic

In the 1996 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent second-term clerk Aurelia Pucinski, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Aurelia Marie Pucinski (incumbent) 374,508 100
Total votes 374,508 100

Republican

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Republican primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sandra M. Stavropoulos 114,082 100
Total votes 114,082 100

General election

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Aurelia Marie Pucinski 1,149,216 70.37
Republican Sandra M. Stavropoulos 397,191 24.32
Harold Washington Philip Morris 64,204 3.03
Justice Party Janet Dennis 22,581 1.38
Total votes 1,642,109 100

Recorder of Deeds

1996 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election
November 5, 1996
Turnout58.92%[1][4]
 
Candidate Jesse White Patrick A. Dwyer
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,061,436 499,551
Percentage 65.33% 30.75%
Recorder of Deeds before election

Jesse White
Democratic

 Elected Recorder of Deeds

Jesse White
Democratic

In the 1996 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent first-term recorder of deeds Jesse White, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Democratic primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jesse White (incumbent) 286,877 70.35
Democratic Mary Ellen Considine 120,924 29.65
Total votes 407,801 100

Republican

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Republican primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Patrick A. Dwyer 72,215 60.07
Republican William J. Kelly 48,000 39.93
Total votes 120,215 100

Harold Washington Party

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Harold Washington Party primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Harold Washington Brenda Hernandez Frias 1,997 100
Total votes 1,997 100

General election

Cook County Recorder of Deeds election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jesse White (incumbent) 1,061,436 65.33
Republican Patrick A. Dwyer 499,551 30.75
Harold Washington Brenda Hernandez Frias 53,421 3.29
Justice Party Smith Wiiams 10,251 0.63
Total votes 1,624,659 100

State's Attorney

1996 Cook County State's Attorney election
November 5, 1996
Turnout61.95%[1][4]
 
Candidate Richard A. Devine Jack O'Malley R. Eugene Pincham
Party Democratic Republican Justice
Popular vote 805,659 694,306 156,695
Percentage 47.88% 41.26% 9.31%
State's Attorney before election

Jack O'Malley
Republican

 Elected State's Attorney

Richard A. Devine
Democratic

In the 1996 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent state's attorney Jack O'Malley, a Republican first elected in a special election in 1990 and subsequently reelected in 1992, was defeated by Democrat Richard A. Devine.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard A. Devine 284,781 100
Total votes 284,781 100

Republican

Cook County State’s Attorney Republican primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John M. "Jack" O'Malley (incumbent) 159,505 100
Total votes 159,505 100

Harold Washington Party

Cook County State’s Attorney Harold Washington Party primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Harold Washington Lawrence C. Redman, Jr. 3,475 100
Total votes 3,475 100

General election

Few had seen Devine as having much prospect of unseating O'Malley, a popular incumbent who was regarded as a rising political star. Devine's strong victory over O'Malley was regarded as a very surprising upset.[7]

Devine was regarded as having ridden the coattails of a Democratic wave in Illinois which saw incumbent president Bill Clinton and his vice president Al Gore carry the state by nearly twenty-points in the presidential election and Illinois also elect Dick Durbin in its U.S. Senate election.[7]

Even Devine himself expressed surprise at just how large his margin-of-victory was over O'Malley.[7]

Cook County State’s Attorney election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Richard A. Devine 805,659 47.88
Republican John M. "Jack" O'Malley (incumbent) 694,306 41.26
Justice Party R. Eugene Pincham 156,695 9.31
Harold Washington Lawrence C. Redman, Jr. 26,131 1.55
Total votes 1,708,256 100

Water Reclamation District Board

1996 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election
November 5, 1996
3 of 9 seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
  First party Second party
 
Party Democratic Republican

In the 1996 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, three of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election in an at-large election.[1] All three Democratic nominees won election.[1]

Judicial elections

Pasrtisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies.[1] Retention elections were also held for the Circuit Court.[1]

Partisan elections were also held for subcircuit courts judgeships due to vacancies.[1] Retention elections were held for other judgeships.[1]

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect both the Democratic, Republican, and Harold Washington Party committeemen for the wards of Chicago.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1996" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1996" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerkil.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH 19, 1996" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 5, 1996" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Voter Registration and Turnout 1990 - 2019 | Cook County Clerk's Office". www.cookcountyclerk.com. Cook County Clerk. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Straight Ticket Voting States". www.ncsl.org. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Fegelman, Andrew Fegelman; Ryan, Nancy (6 November 1996). "O'MALLEY SHOCKED BY DEVINE". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
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