2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →
Turnout	47.29% 2.76 pp
Nominee Rod Blagojevich Judy Baar Topinka Rich Whitney Party Democratic Republican Green Running mate Pat Quinn Joe Birkett Julie Samuels Popular vote 1,736,731 1,369,315 361,336 Percentage 49.79% 39.26% 10.36%
County results Blagojevich:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Topinka:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election Rod Blagojevich Democratic Elected Governor Rod Blagojevich Democratic

Elections in Illinois
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Ballot measures and referendums State capitol referendum (1834) Cutback Amendment (1980) Crime Victim Rights Amendment (1992) Illinois Governor Recall Amendment (2010) Public Pension Amendment (2012) Marsy's Law (2014) Right to Vote Amendment (2014) Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment (2016) Fair Tax (2020) Right to Collective Bargaining Amendment (2022)
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v t e

The 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich won re-election to a second four-year term scheduled to have ended on January 10, 2011. However, Blagojevich did not complete his term, as he was impeached and removed from office in 2009. This was the first election since 1964 that a Democrat was re-elected governor.

Many observers expected the race to be close, especially considering the polling,^[1] which had shown Governor Blagojevich to have a high disapproval rating. However, the Republicans had fared poorly due to scandals involving prior Governor George Ryan, and the increasingly unpopular presidency of George W. Bush. Exit polls showed Topinka won white voters (46%-41%-13%), while Blagojevich performed well among African Americans (80%-16%-2%) and Latinos (83%-12%-4%). Democrats won Will County for the first time since 1964, and Lake County for the first time since 1960.

This was the second and last time in Illinois that a woman was a major party's nominee for governor, the other being 1994. This was also the last time a male lieutenant governor was on the winning ticket.