1974 Illinois elections

1974 Illinois elections

←  1972 November 5, 1974 1976  →
Turnout	52.23%

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 5, 1974. ^[1]

Primaries were held on March 19, 1974. ^[1]

Election information

1974 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

Turnout in the primary election was 30.09%, with a total of 1,817,804 ballots cast. 1,174,231 Democratic and 643,573 Republican primary ballots were cast. ^[1]

Turnout during the general election was 52.23%, with 3,084,675 ballots cast. ^[1]

Federal elections

United States Senate

Main article: 1974 United States Senate election in Illinois

See also: 1974 United States Senate elections

Incumbent Democrat Adlai Stevenson III was reelected.

United States House

Main article: 1974 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois

See also: 1974 United States House of Representatives elections

All 24 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1974.

The Democratic Party flipped three seats, leaving the party composition of Illinois' House delegation as 13 Democratic and 11 Republican.

State elections

Treasurer

1974 Illinois State Treasurer election

←  1970 November 5, 1974 1978  →
Turnout	47.05% [1]
Nominee Alan J. Dixon Harry Page Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,796,144 953,928 Percentage 64.65% 34.33%
Treasurer before election Alan J. Dixon Democratic Elected Treasurer Alan J. Dixon Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer Alan J. Dixon, a Democrat, won reelection to a second term.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Alan J. Dixon won renomination, running unopposed.

Treasurer Democratic primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alan J. Dixon (incumbent)	721,536	100
Total votes			721,536	100

Republican primary

Harry Page defeated Jeannette H. Mullen in the Republican primary.

Treasurer Republican primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Harry Page	267,307	53.06
	Republican	Jeannette H. Mullen	236,441	46.94
Total votes			503,748	100

General election

Treasurer election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alan J. Dixon (incumbent)	1,796,144	64.65
	Republican	Harry Page	953,928	34.33
	Socialist Workers	Suzanne Haig	20,240	0.73
	Communist	Lorraine M. Ashby	8,070	0.29
Total votes			2,778,382	100

State Senate

Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1974. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1974. Democrats flipped control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1974 Trustees of University of Illinois election

←  1972 November 5, 1974 1976  →

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

The election saw the election of new members, Democrats Robert J. Lenz, Nina T. Shepherd, and Arthur R. Velasquez. ^{[1] [2]}

First-term Republican Russel W. Steger, and fellow Republican Timothy W. Swain (who had been appointed in 1955, and had been elected to three full terms since) both lost reelection. ^{[1] [2]} Third-term Republican Earl M. Hughes was not renominated. ^{[1] [2]}

Trustees of the University of Illinois election ^{[1] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nina T. Shepherd	1,535,875	19.68
	Democratic	Robert J. Lenz	1,409,944	18.06
	Democratic	Arthur R. Velasquez	1,378,577	17.66
	Republican	Timothy W. Swain (incumbent)	1,151,284	14.75
	Republican	Russell W. Steger (incumbent)	1,107,032	14.18
	Republican	Gardner W. Heidrick	1,042,875	13.36
	Socialist Workers	Mary R. Wismer	50,752	0.65
	Socialist Workers	Brian Williams	34,376	0.44
	Socialist Workers	Antonio DeLeon	34,165	0.44
	Communist	Valerie Witzkowski	27,006	0.35
	Communist	John R. Lumpkin	17,256	0.22
	Communist	Jay Schaffner	17,099	0.22
Total votes			7,806,241	100

Judicial elections

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 1974. ^[1]

Ballot measure

Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1974. ^[3] In order to be approved, the measure required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections. ^[3]

This marked the first time that Illinois voters voted on a proposed amendment to the 1970 Constitution of Illinois following its adoption. ^[3]

Restrict Governor's Amendatory Veto Power Amendment

Voters rejected the Restrict Governor's Amendatory Veto Power Amendment, a measure which would have amended Amends Article IV, Section 9, Paragraph (e) of the Constitution of Illinois failed to meet either threshold to amend the constitution. ^[3] It would have restricted the amendatory veto power given to the governor, which allows the governor to return bills to the legislature with suggested changes. ^[4]

Restrict Governor's Amendatory Veto Power Amendment [1] [3] [4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on referendum	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,302,313	49.48	42.73
No	1,329,719	50.52	43.63
Total votes	2,632,032	100	85.33
Voter turnout	44.57%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

Among the local elections was a referendum in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties which created Regional Transportation Authority. ^[1]

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 5, 1974 JUDICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, MARCH, 19, 1974" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved June 26, 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
3. "Illinois Constitution - Amendments Proposed". www.ilga.gov. Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
4. "Illinois Restrict Governor's Amendatory Veto Power, Amendment 1 (1974)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.