1944 Illinois elections – Wikipedia

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 7, 1944.[1]

Primaries were held April 11, 1944.[1]

Election information[edit]

Turnout[edit]

In the primaries, 1,428,685 ballots were cast (635,487 Democratic and 793,198 Republican).[1]

In the general election, 4,079,024 ballots were cast.[1]

Federal elections[edit]

United States President[edit]

Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

United States Senate[edit]

Incumbent Democrat Scott W. Lucas won reelection to a second term.

United States House[edit]

All 26 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1944.

Democrats flipped four Republican-held seats, making the composition of Illinois’ House delegation 15 Republicans and 11 Democrats.

State elections[edit]

Governor[edit]

1944 Illinois gubernatorial election

1944 Illinois gubernatorial election results map by county.svg

County Results

Green:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Courtney:      50–60%      60–70%


Incumbent Governor Dwight H. Green, a Republican, was reelected to a second term.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

Lieutenant governor[edit]

1944 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election

Incumbent lieutenant governor Hugh W. Cross, a Republican, was reelected to a second term.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

Attorney general[edit]

1944 Illinois Attorney General election

Incumbent attorney general George F. Barrett, a Republican, won reelection to second term.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

Secretary of State[edit]

1944 Illinois Secretary of State election

Incumbent third-term Secretary of State Edward J. Hughes, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Hughes then died before the general election, and in June 1944, Richard Yates Rowe, a Republican, was appointed to fill the rest of his term. In the election, Democrat Edward J. Barrett was elected to permanently succeed them in office.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

Arnold P. Benson won the Republican primary, defeating incumbent Illinois Treasurer and former congressman William Stratton.

General election[edit]

Auditor of Public Accounts[edit]

1944 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election

Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Arthur C. Lueder, a Republican, was reelected to a second term.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

Treasurer[edit]

1944 Illinois State Treasurer election

Incumbent first-term Treasurer William G. Stratton, a Republican, did not seek reelection, instead opting to run for Secretary of State. Republican Conrad F. Becker was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

Clerk of the Supreme Court[edit]

1944 Illinois Clerk of the Supreme Court election

Incumbent Clerk of the Supreme Court Edward F. Cullinane, a Democrat appointed to the office in 1940 after the death in office of Adam F. Bloch, did not seek reelection.[1][2] Republican Earle Benjamin Searcy was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

General election[edit]

State Senate[edit]

Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1944. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives[edit]

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1944. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois[edit]

1944 Trustees of University of Illinois election
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Seats before 6 3
Seats after 6 3
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 5,650,742½ 5,809,521½
Percentage 49.14% 50.52%
Swing Decrease 4.43% Increase 4.49%
Seats up 0 3
Races won 0 3

[1][3][4]

An election was held for three of the nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois.[1] The election was for six-year terms. All three Democratic nominees won. However, since all three seats up for election were already held by Democrats, the partisan composition of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees remained unchanged, with a 9–3 Republican majority over Democrats.

Democratic incumbent Karl A. Meyer was reelected to a third term.[3] Democratic incumbent Kenny E. Williamson, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy in 1940 was reelected to his first full term.[3] New Democratic member Walter W. McLaughlin was also elected.[3] First-term Democratic incumbent Frank A. Jensen was not nominated for reelection.[1][3]

Ballot measures[edit]

Two ballot measures were put before voters in 1944. One was a legislatively referred state statute and one was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment.

In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute. In order to be approved, legislatively referred constitutional amendments required approval equal to a majority of voters voting in the entire general election.[5]

Illinois County Officer Term Limit Amendment[edit]

Illinois County Officer Term Limit Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois, failed to meet the threshold for approval.[1][6]

The amendment would have removed a constitutional provision requiring elected county officers to wait for four years after their term expired before they would be eligible to hold that same office again.[6]

Illinois County Officer Term Limit Amendment[1][6]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Yes 898,107 22.02
No 653,877 16.03
Total votes 1,551,984 38.05

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment[edit]

The Illinois General Banking Law Amendment, a legislatively referred state statute which amended section 10 of the Illinois General Banking Law, was approved by voters.[1][7]

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment[1][7]
Candidate Votes %
Yes 973,159 69.12
No 434,767 30.88
Total votes 1,407,926 100

Local elections[edit]

Local elections were held.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah “OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 7, 1944 PRIMARY ELECTION General Primary, April 11, 1944” (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 2 August 2020.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ “Rosters of Government Officials” (PDF). State of Illinois. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f “Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees” (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. ^ “OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 3, 1942 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1941-1942 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, April 14, 1942” (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 August 2020.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
  6. ^ a b c “Illinois County Officer Term Limit Amendment (1944)”. Ballotpedia. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b “Illinois General Banking Law Amendment (1944)”. Ballotpedia. Retrieved 4 August 2020.