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1958 Illinois elections

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1958 Illinois elections

← 1956 November 4, 1958 1960 →
Turnout67.72%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1958.[1]

Primaries were held April 8, 1958.[1]

Election information

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1958 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

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In the primary election, 1,594,388 ballots were cast (831,502 Democratic and 762,886 Republican).[1]

In the general election, turnout was 67.72% with 3,427,278 ballots cast.[1][2]

Federal elections

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United States House

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All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1958.

Democrats flipped three Republican-held seats, leaving the Illinois House delegation to consist of 14 Democrats and 11 Republicans.

State elections

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Treasurer

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1958 Illinois State Treasurer election

← 1956 November 4, 1958 1962 →
Turnout63.98%[1][2]
 
Nominee Joseph D. Lohman Warren Wright
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,688,809 1,548,902
Percentage 52.16% 47.84%

Treasurer before election

Francis S. Lorenz
Democratic

Elected Treasurer

Joseph D. Lohman
Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer, Republican Elmer J. Hoffman, did not seek reelection, instead running successfully for Illinois's 14th congressional district. Democrat Joseph D. Lohman was elected to succeed him, defeating former two-term Illinois Treasurer, Republican Warren Wright.

Democratic primary

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Treasurer Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph D. Lohman 650,222 100
Write-in Others 4 0.00
Total votes 650,226 100

Republican primary

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Former treasurer Warren Wright won the Republican primary, defeating State Representative Louis E. Beckman Jr.

Treasurer Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Warren E. Wright 373,876 56.58
Republican Louis E. Beckman 286,893 43.42
Write-in Others 3 0.00
Total votes 660,772 100

General election

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Treasurer election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph D. Lohman 1,688,809 52.16
Republican Warren E. Wright 1,548,902 47.84
Total votes 3,237,711 100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

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1958 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election

← 1954 November 4, 1958 1962 →
Turnout70.87%[1][2]
 
Nominee George T. Wilkins Gerald W. Smith
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,685,877 1,477,332
Percentage 53.30% 46.70%

Superintendent before election

Vernon L. Nickell
Republican

Elected Superintendent

George T. Wilkins
Democratic

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Vernon L. Nickell, a fourth-term Republican, did not seek reelection. Democrat George T. Wilkins was elected to succeed him.

Democratic primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic George T. Wilkins 615,058 100
Write-in Others 1 0.00
Total votes 615,059 100

Republican primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gerald W. Smith 483,027 78.94
Republican Lar "America First" Daly 128,861 21.06
Write-in Others 6 0.00
Total votes 611,894 100

General election

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Superintendent of Public Instruction election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic George T. Wilkins 1,685,877 53.30
Republican Gerald W. Smith 1,477,332 46.70
Total votes 3,163,209 100

State Senate

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Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1958. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

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Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1958. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

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1958 Trustees of University of Illinois election
← 1956 November 4, 1958 1960 →

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois.

The election saw the reelection of one-term member former member Harold Pogue and the election of new Democratic members Howard W. Clement, Richard A. Harewood.[1][3]

The election saw third-term incumbent Republican Park Livingston, second term Republican incumbent Doris Simpson Holt and first-term incumbent Republican Cushman B. Bissell lose reelection.[1][3]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Harold Pogue 1,718,370 18.32
Democratic Howard W. Clement 1,671,895 17.82
Democratic Richard A. Harewood 1,653,654 17.63
Republican Park Livingston (incumbent) 1,487,954.5 15.86
Republican Cushman B. Bissell (incumbent) 1,448,903 15.45
Republican Doris Simpson Holt (incumbent) 1,400,456.5 14.93
Total votes 9,381,233 100

Judicial elections

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Lower courts

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On June 8, 1958, the Superior Court of Cook County held three regular elections and two special elections.[1] On September 2, 1958, a special election was held for a vacant seat on the 12th Judicial Circuit.[1]

Ballot measures

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Three ballot measures were put before voters in 1958. One was a legislatively referred state statutes and two were legislatively referred constitutional amendments.[4]

In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute.[1] In order to be placed on the ballot, proposed legislatively referred constitutional amendments needed to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the Illinois General Assembly.[5] In order to be approved, they required approval of either two-thirds of those voting on the amendment itself or a majority of all ballots cast in the general elections.[1]

County Officers Re-election Amendment

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The County Officers Re-election Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article VI of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois, failed to meet either threshold for approval. The amendment would have permitted county sheriffs and treasurers to be elected to successive terms.[6]

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[7]

County Officers Re-election Amendment[1][2][6]
Option Votes % of votes

on measure

% of all ballots
cast
Yes 1,420,011 56.36 41.43
No 1,099,475 43.64 32.08
Total votes 2,519,486 100 73.51
Voter turnout 49.79%

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment

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Illinois General Banking Law Amendment was approved by voters as a legislatively referred state statute. It made modified the state's banking law.[8]

Illinois General Banking Law Amendment[1][2]
Candidate Votes %
Yes 755,622 65.83
No 392,260 34.17
Total votes 1,147,882 100
Voter turnout 22.68%

Judicial Amendment

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The Judicial Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article VI of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois, failed to meet either threshold for approval.[1] Changes the amendment would have made included giving broad powers to the Supreme Court of Illinois and creating an appellate court.[9]

In order for constitutional amendments to be passed by voters, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.[7][10]

Judicial Amendment[1][2]
Option Votes % of votes

on measure

% of all ballots
cast
Yes 1,589,655 64.02 46.38
No 893,503 35.98 26.07
Total votes 2,483,158 100 72.45
Voter turnout 49.07%

Local elections

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Local elections were held.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 4, 1958 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1957, 1958 SPECIAL ELECTION, 1957 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL, 8, 1958" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 4, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e f "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 2, 1982" (PDF). www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 4, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "1958 ballot measures". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
  6. ^ a b "Illinois County Officers Re-election (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  7. ^ a b 1870 Illinois Constitution Article XIV
  8. ^ "Illinois General Banking Law Amendment (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  9. ^ "Illinois Judicial Amendment (1958)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.