Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 8, 1960.
Primaries were held on April 12.
Election information The election coincided with the 1960 presidential election, in which Democratic nominee John F. Kennedy narrowly won Illinois. In Illinois races, the Democratic Party had many successes, flipping four of five state constitutional offices from Republican to Democratic, and electing its three nominees for trustees of the University of Illinois. Democrats, however, lost their majority in the state house, which was at the time malapportioned in favor of Republicans.
Turnout In the primaries, turnout was 40.92%, with 2,082,667 ballots cast (1,171,488 Democratic and 911,179 Republican).
In the general election, turnout was 88.11%, with 4,845,319 ballots cast.
Federal elections United States President
Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
United States Senate
Democratic Senator Paul Douglas was reelected to a third term.
United States House
All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1960.
No seats switched parties, leaving Illinois' House delegation to consist of 14 Democrats and 11 Republicans.
State elections Governor
Incumbent Governor William Stratton, a Republican seeking a third term, lost reelection to Democrat Otto Kerner Jr.
General election
Lieutenant governor
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor John William Chapman, a Republican seeking a third term, lost reelection to Democrat Samuel H. Shapiro.
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Attorney general
Incumbent Attorney General William L. Guild (a Republican appointed in 1960 after the death in office of Grenville Beardsley) lost to Democrat William G. Clark.
Originally, before his death, Grenville Beardsley (himself a Republican that had been appointed in 1959 after Latham Castle resigned to assume a judgeship) had been seeking reelection, having won the Republican primary.
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Secretary of State
Incumbent Secretary of State Charles F. Carpentier, a Republican, was reelected to a third term.
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Auditor of Public Accounts
Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Elbert S. Smith, a Republican seeking a second term, lost to Democrat Michael Howlett.
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
State Senate Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1960. Republicans retained control of the chamber.
State House of Representatives Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1960. Republicans flipped control of the chamber.
Trustees of University of Illinois
An election was held for three seats as Trustees of University of Illinois. All three Democratic nominees won.
Democratic incumbent Kenney E. Williamson, first appointed in 1940, won reelection to a third full (fourth overall) term. Democratic incumbent Frances Best Watkins won reelection to a third term. They were joined in winning election by fellow Democrat Irving Dillard.
Incumbent Democrat George Herrick was not nominated for reelection.
Judicial elections
Judicial elections were held in 1960.
Supreme Court First Supreme Court Judicial District
Second Supreme Court Judicial District
Third Supreme Court Judicial District
Lower courts On April 12, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
Ballot measures Two ballot measures, both of them bond issues, were put before Illinois voters in 1960.
Bond measures needed an affirmative vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.<ref name="results"/ Since, in 1960, the highest legislative vote was 4,525,191, the vote count needed to be reached was at least 2,262,596 affirmative votes. The vote also needed a majority of votes cast on each measure to be affirmative.
Bond Issue for Education Voters approved the Bond Issue for Education, which issued bonds to support improvements in education.
Bond Issue for Education Option Votes % of highest legislative votecast Yes 2,633,869 58.21 No 1,266,490 27.98 Total votes 3,900,359 86.19 Voter turnout 70.92%
Bond Issue for Mental Health Voters approved the Bond Issue for Mental Health, which would issue bonds to support improvements mental health and public welfare.
Bond Issue for Mental Health Option Votes % of highest legislative votecast Yes 2,967,527 65.58 No 973,075 21.50 Total votes 3,940,602 87.08 Voter turnout 71.65%
Local elections Local elections were held.
References