1952 Illinois elections

Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1952.^[1]

1952 Illinois elections

← 1950 November 4, 1952 1954 →
Turnout	86.04%

Primaries were held on April 8.^[1][2]

The elections, in large part, saw a strong performance by the Republican Party.

The Republican Party retained control both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and also won the Governorship, winning them a trifecta of state government control. They also swept all statewide elected executive offices. Additionally, they won all three seats for University of Illinois Trustees that were up for election.

For the first time since 1928, Illinois voted for the Republican presidential ticket, despite the fact that the Democratic ticket was headed by incumbent Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II.

Election information

Turnout

In the primary, 2,289,347 ballots were cast (891,991 Democratic and 1,397,356 Republican).^[1][2]

In the general election, turnout was 86.04% with a total of 4,563,305 ballots cast.^[1][3][4]

Federal elections

United States President

Main article: 1952 United States presidential election in Illinois

See also: 1952 United States presidential election

Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. They defeated the Democratic ticket of (incumbent Illinois Governor) Adlai Stevenson II and John Sparkman.

This was the first time since 1928 that Illinois had voted for the Republican presidential ticket. This came despite the fact that the Democratic ticket was headed by Stevenson.

United States House

See also: 1952 United States House of Representatives elections § Illinois

Illinois had redistricted before this election, and had lost one seat due to reapportionment following the 1950 United States census. All of Illinois' remaining 25 seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1952.

Before the election Republicans held 18 seats and Democrats held 8 seats from Illinois. In 1952, Republicans won 16 seats and Democrats won 9 seats.

State elections

Governor

Main article: 1952 Illinois gubernatorial election

1952 Illinois gubernatorial election

← 1948 November 4, 1952 1956 →
Turnout	83.26%[1][4]
Nominee William Stratton Sherwood Dixon Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,317,363 2,089,721 Percentage 52.48% 47.32%
County Results Stratton:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Dixon:      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election Adlai Stevenson II Democratic Elected Governor William Stratton Republican

Incumbent Governor Adlai Stevenson II, a Democrat, ultimately did not seek a second term, instead opting to run as his party's nominee for President of the United States. Republican William Stratton was elected to succeed him in office.

General election

Gubernatorial election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William G. Stratton	2,317,363	52.48
	Democratic	Sherwood Dixon	2,089,721	47.32
	Socialist Labor	Louis Fisher	8,777	0.20
	Write-in	Others	3	0.00
Total votes			4,415,864	100

Lieutenant governor

1952 Illinois lieutenant gubernatorial election

← 1948 November 4, 1952 1956 →
Turnout	81.88%[1][4]
Nominee John William Chapman Herbert C. Paschen Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,291,812 2,043,021 Percentage 52.77% 47.05%
Lieutenant Governor before election Sherwood Dixon Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor John William Chapman Republican

Incumbent lieutenant governor Sherwood Dixon, a Democrat, ultimately did not seek reelection to a second term, instead opting to run for governor. Republican John William Chapman was elected to succeed him in office.

Before being made the Democratic nominee for governor (replacing Adlai Stevenson II, who opted to instead read for president for the United States), Dixon had been running for reelection, even winning the Democratic nomination. Attorney Herbert C. Paschen replaced Dixon as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

Democratic primary

Lieutenant gubernatorial Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sherwood Dixon (incumbent)	629,332	100
	Write-in	Others	5	0.00
Total votes			578,390	100

Republican primary

Lieutenant gubernatorial Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John William Chapman	480,908	43.12
	Republican	John D. Biggs	479,009	42.95
	Republican	Patrick S. Clary	155,332	13.93
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			1,115,253	100

General election

Lieutenant gubernatorial election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John William Chapman	2,291,812	52.77
	Democratic	Herbert C. Paschen	2,043,021	47.05
	Socialist Labor	Frank Schnur	7,836	0.18
Total votes			4,342,669	100

Attorney general

1952 Illinois Attorney General election

← 1948 November 4, 1952 1956 →
Turnout	81.71%[1][4]
Nominee Latham Castle Ivan A. Elliott Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,269,082 2,056,411 Percentage 52.36% 47.46%
Attorney General before election Ivan A. Elliott Democratic Elected Attorney General Latham Castle Republican

Incumbent attorney general Ivan A. Elliott, a Democrat running for a second term, lost to Republican Latham Castle.

Democratic primary

Attorney General Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ivan A. Elliott (incumbent)	370,351	52.99
	Democratic	Joseph P. Burke	194,997	27.90
	Democratic	James L. Griffin	133,586	19.11
Total votes			698,934	100

Republican primary

Attorney General Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Latham Castle	330,692	29.35
	Republican	Lee Daniels	252,999	22.46
	Republican	J. Roy Browning	200,880	17.83
	Republican	Conrad Noll	177,174	15.73
	Republican	Edward P. Saltiel	164,955	14.64
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			1,126,702

General election

Attorney General election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Latham Castle	2,269,082	52.36
	Democratic	Ivan A. Elliott (incumbent)	2,056,411	47.46
	Socialist Labor	Bernard Campbell	7,933	0.18
Total votes			4,333,426	100

Secretary of State

1952 Illinois Secretary of State election

← 1948 November 4, 1952 1956 →
Turnout	82.80%[1][4]
Nominee Charles F. Carpentier Edward J. Barrett Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,196,327 2,187,024 Percentage 50.02% 49.81%
County results Carpentier:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Barrett:      50–60%      60–70%
Secretary of State before election Edward J. Barrett Democratic Elected Secretary of State Charles F. Carpentier Republican

The Secretary of State Edward J. Barrett, a Democrat seeking a third term, was defeated by Republican Charles F. Carpentier.

Democratic primary

Secretary of State Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Barrett (incumbent)	709,646	100
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			709,650	100

Republican primary

Secretary of State primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles F. Carpentier	455,994	39.97
	Republican	Warren E. Wright	449,549	39.41
	Republican	Harold R. Collier	125,044	10.96
	Republican	George R. Hedges	110,224	9.66
	Write-in	Others	4	0.00
Total votes			1,140,815

General election

Secretary of State election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles F. Carpentier	2,196,327	50.02
	Democratic	Edward J. Barrett (incumbent)	2,187,024	49.81
	Socialist Labor	Edward C. Gross	7,861	0.18
Total votes			4,391,212	100

Auditor of Public Accounts

1952 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts election

← 1948 November 4, 1952 1956 →
Turnout	81.94%[1][4]
Nominee Orville Hodge Benjamin O. Cooper Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,336,424 2,001,023 Percentage 53.77% 46.05%
Auditor of Public Accounts before election Benjamin O. Cooper Democratic Elected Auditor of Public Accounts Orville Hodge Republican

Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Benjamin O. Cooper, a Democrat seeking a second term, was defeated by Republican Orville Hodge.

Democratic primary

Auditor of Public Accounts Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Benjamin O. Cooper (incumbent)	634,083	100
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			634,085	100

Republican primary

Auditor of Public Accounts Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Orville E. Hodge	287,627	24.77
	Republican	James E. Hill	226,134	19.47
	Republican	Ralph Waldo Emerson	186,960	16.10
	Republican	Louis E. Nelson	174,987	15.07
	Republican	Richard J. Oglesby	113,091	9.74
	Republican	Arthur E. Larson	105,253	9.06
	Republican	William H. Brown	67,187	5.79
	Write-in	Others	2	0.00
Total votes			1,161,243

General election

Auditor of Public Accounts election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Orville E. Hodge	2,336,424	53.77
	Democratic	Benjamin O. Cooper (incumbent)	2,001,023	46.05
	Socialist Labor	Nick Mays	8,065	0.19
Total votes			4,345,512	100

Treasurer

1952 Illinois State Treasurer election

← 1950 November 4, 1952 1954 →
Turnout	82.40%[1][4]
Nominee Elmer J. Hoffman Fred A. Cain Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,366,170 1,996,132 Percentage 54.15% 45.68%
County results Hoffman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Cain:      50–60%      60–70%
Treasurer before election William Stratton Republican Elected Treasurer Elmer J. Hoffman Republican

Incumbent Treasurer William Stratton, a Republican, did not seek reelection to a second-consecutive (third overall) term, instead opting to run for governor. Republican Elmer J. Hoffman was elected to succeed him in office.

Democratic primary

Treasurer Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Fred A. Cain	628,356	100
	Write-in	Others	6	0.00
Total votes			628,362	100

Republican primary

Treasurer Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elmer J. Hoffman	471,668	62.86
	Republican	Leslie J. Smith	154,496	20.59
	Republican	William E. Wayland	124,244	16.56
Total votes			750,408

General election

Treasurer election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elmer J. Hoffman	2,366,170	54.15
	Democratic	Fred A. Cain	1,996,132	45.68
	Socialist Labor	Gregory P. Lyngas	7,755	0.18
Total votes			4,370,057	100

State Senate

Seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1952. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1952. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

1952 Trustees of University of Illinois election

← 1950 November 4, 1952 1954 →

An election was held for three of the nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois.^[3] All three Republican nominees won.^[3]

Republican incumbent Park Livingston was reelected to a third term.^[5] Republican incumbent Doris Holt was reelected to a second term.^[5] Joining them in being elected was fellow Republican Cushman Bissell.^[3][5]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election^[3][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Park Livington (incumbent)	2,392,531½	18.53
	Republican	Cushman B. Bissell	2,312,089	17.91
	Republican	Doris S. Holt (incumbent)	2,283,764	17.69
	Democratic	Harold Pogue	2,006,419½	15.54
	Democratic	Charles E. Bliss	1,963,787	15.21
	Democratic	Julien H. Collins	1,929,105	14.94
	Socialist Labor	Helen L. Olsen	9,074	0.07
	Socialist Labor	Henry Schilling	8,431	0.07
	Socialist Labor	Oscar Haeggquist	8,172	0.06
Total votes			12,913,373	100

Ballot measures

Five statewide ballot measures were put before the residents of Illinois in 1952.

In order for constitutional amendments (of which all but one ballot measure was) to pass, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.^[6][7]

County Officers' Compensation Amendment

Voters approved the County Officers' Compensation Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article X Section 10 of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois to establish rules for the compensation of county officer which stated that the compensation amount would be set by the county board and could not increase or diminish during the term of office.^[1][3][8]

County Officers' Compensation Amendment[1][3][4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,024,823	67.40	44.37
No	979,401	32.60	21.46
Total votes	3,005,155	100	65.86
Voter turnout	56.66%

Double Liability Banking Amendment

Voters approved the Double Liability Banking Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which amended Article XI Section 6 of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois to make it so that individual stockholders of banking institutions should not be personally liable to the creditors of the corporation.^[1][3][9]

Double Liability Banking Amendment[1][3][4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	2,072,965	68.69	45.43
No	944,845	31.31	20.70
Total votes	3,017,810	100	66.13
Voter turnout	56.90%

General Banking Law Amendment

Voters approved the General Banking Law Amendment, a legislatively referred state statute which made changes to section 13 of the general banking law.^[1][3]

General Banking Law Amendment^{[1][3][10][4]}

Candidate		Votes	%
Yes		2,173,425	82.66
No		455,782	17.34
Total votes		2,629,207	100
Voter turnout		49.58%

Re-election of County Officers Amendment

The Re-election of County Officers Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article X Section 8 of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois create new rules for the election of officers in each county, failed to pass either threshold for adoption.^[1][3][7]

Re-election of County Officers Amendment[1][3][4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,953,675	64.30	42.81
No	1,084,864	35.70	23.77
Total votes	3,038,539	100	66.59
Voter turnout	57.29%

Revenue Amendment

The Revenue Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would amend Article IX Sections 1, 2 3, 9, and 10 and repeal Section IX Section 13 to modify the power of the legislature to levy taxes, failed to reach either threshold required for adoption.^[1][3][11]

Double Liability Banking Amendment[1][3][4]
Option	Votes	% of votes on measure	% of all ballots cast
Yes	1,838,596	61.37	40.29
No	1,157,406	38.63	25.36
Total votes	2,996,002	100	65.65
Voter turnout	56.49%

Local elections

Local elections were held.

References

1. "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 4, 1952 JUDICIAL ELECTION, 1951 • PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 8 1952" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
2. Illinois Blue Book 1951-1952. Illinois Secretary of State. pp. 757–758. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
3. Illinois Blue Book 1953-1954. Illinois Secretary of State. pp. 823–24. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
4. "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]}
5. "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
6. 1870 Illinois Constitution Article XIV
7. "Illinois Re-election of County Officers Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
8. "Illinois County Officers' Compensation Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
9. "Illinois Double Liability Banking Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
10. "Illinois Constitutional Convention Question (1968)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
11. "Illinois Revenue Amendment (1952)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 1, 2020.