State elections board certifies 2022 results
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[December 06, 2022]
By JERRY NOWICKI
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
 SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Elections certified its
election results Monday, putting the final stamp on another Democratic
sweep of statewide offices.
The board reported that 4,142,642 out of 8,115,751 registered voters
cast ballots in the election, a turnout of roughly 51 percent. That’s
down from a turnout of more than 57 percent in 2018, but up from a 49
percent turnout in 2014, according to ISBE.
The final margin of victory for Gov. JB Pritzker over Republican
challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey was a resounding one, about 12.54
percentage points. Pritzker notched more than 2.25 million votes to
Bailey’s 1.74 million.
The lead vote-getter for Democrats was Comptroller Susana Mendoza in her
third successful statewide election. Her 2.33 million votes to nearly
1.68 million votes for Republican candidate Shannon Teresi represented a
win of just over 16 percentage points, down from her near 23-point
victory total in 2018.
She assumes the mantle of most successful statewide Democrat that has
for over two decades been claimed by Secretary of State Jesse White. The
88-year-old who has held that office since 1998 didn’t run again this
year, paving the way for Democrat Alexi Giannoulias to win a contentious
Democratic primary.
Giannoulias, the former state treasurer, received about 2.2 million
votes to just under 1.8 million for state Rep. Dan Brady, of
Bloomington, the Republican nominee. Last week, Giannoulias and Brady
announced that the vanquished Republican would join the winner’s
transition team. The margin of victory was about 10.69 percentage
points.
“I am honored that Secretary-elect Giannoulias is rising above party
politics by drawing on that experience to make the office the best that
it can be,” Brady said in a Nov. 30 statement. “I may be leaving elected
office in a few short weeks, but I have always desired to help the
people of Illinois in any way that I can. I appreciate this opportunity
to use my unique knowledge to help enhance a statewide office that
affects the lives of more Illinoisans on a daily basis than any other.”
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Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is
pictured at a Democratic campaign event in Springfield earlier this
year. She received the most votes of any statewide candidate in this
year's election. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)
Attorney General Kwame Raoul posted similar margins to Pritzker and
Giannoulias in earning a second term, besting Republican Thomas DeVore
54.35 percent to 43.45 percent. It’s a slightly closer margin than his
55-43 triumph in 2018. Raoul amassed 2.2 million votes compared to
DeVore’s near 1.8 million. His margin of victory was 10.9 percent.
State Treasurer Michael Frerichs earned a third term, beating Republican
Rep. Tom Demmer, of Dixon, 54.29 percent to 43.48 percent. The 10.81
percentage point margin was down from about 19 percent in 2018, but well
above Frerichs’ 2014 performance in which he won by fewer than 10,000
votes.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, meanwhile, put up margins nearly identical to
Mendoza, besting Republican Kathy Salvi 2.3 million to 1.7 million, for
a margin just under 16 percentage points.
An amendment to the state’s constitution passed with 53.42 percent of
the ballots cast in the election. The amendment guarantees workers a
right to unionize in Illinois. It had two paths to passage, receiving
majority approval from the total ballots cast, or receiving 60 percent
approval from those voting on the question.
The amendment was approved by 2.2 million of the 4.1 million voters to
cast a ballot in the election. It received 58.72 percent approval from
those voting on the question.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news
service covering state government. It is distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide, as well as hundreds of radio and TV stations. It
is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation.
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