1992 United States presidential election in Illinois

1992 United States presidential election in Illinois

← 1988 November 3, 1992 1996 →
Turnout76.51%
 
Nominee Bill Clinton George H. W. Bush Ross Perot
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Home state Arkansas Texas Texas
Running mate Al Gore Dan Quayle James Stockdale
Electoral vote 22 0 0
Popular vote 2,453,350 1,734,096 840,515
Percentage 48.58% 34.34% 16.64%


President before election

George H. W. Bush
Republican

Elected President

Bill Clinton
Democratic

The 1992 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 22 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Illinois was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 48.58% of the popular vote over incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 34.34%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 16.64% of the popular vote.[1] In 1988, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis also received 48.6% of the vote, albeit in a losing effort to Bush, who received 50.7%.

Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush.[2] Clinton became the first Democrat to win Illinois on a presidential level since 1964, and only the second to do so since 1948. Clinton notably won seven of 21 Illinois counties that had backed Barry Goldwater in 1964.[3] He remains the only Democrat to win Johnson County and Pope County[note 1] — Southern and anti-Yankee in culture but converted to Unionism by war[4] — since Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.[5] In Northern Illinois Clinton became the first Democrat to ever win Whiteside County which had voted in presidential elections since 1840,[5] the first to win DeKalb County since Franklin Pierce in 1852, and the first to win Bureau, McDonough and Warren Counties since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.[3]

This represented a realigning election for Illinois in regards to presidential politics. It ended a streak of six consecutive elections in which the state had voted for the Republican ticket. It also began a streak in which the state has voted by double digits for the Democratic ticket in eight consecutive presidential elections.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is also the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Brown, Clark, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Monroe, Richland, and Tazewell.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "1992 Presidential General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 180-187 ISBN 0786422173
  4. ^ Wells, Damon; Stephen Douglas: The Last Years, 1857–1861, p. 285 ISBN 0292776357
  5. ^ a b Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States; p. 115
  6. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016


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