1992 United States Senate election in Illinois

The 1992 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Senator Alan J. Dixon decided to run for re-election a third term, but he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Carol Moseley Braun, who won the general election. Until 2022, this was the last time a single party won Illinois's Class 3 Senate seat in two or more consecutive elections.

1992 United States Senate election in Illinois

← 1986 November 3, 1992 1998 →
Turnout	74.84%
Nominee Carol Moseley Braun Richard S. Williamson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,631,229 2,162,833 Percentage 53.27% 43.06%
County results Moseley Braun:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Williamson:      40–50%      50–60%
U.S. senator before election Alan J. Dixon Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun Democratic

Braun, whose victory coincided with Bill Clinton's win in Illinois and the overall presidential election, made history in this election by becoming the first African American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and also the first African American elected to the Senate as a Democrat. Braun was also both the first African American and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Illinois.

Primaries were held March 17.^[1]

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (president and House), as well as those for state offices.^[1][2]

For the primaries, turnout was 35.20%, with 2,064,347 votes cast.^[1] For the general election, turnout was 74.84%, with 4,939,557 votes cast.^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Carol Moseley Braun, Cook County Recorder of Deeds and former State Representative
• Alan J. Dixon, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Albert Hofeld, attorney

Results

Democratic Primary, United States Senate, 1992^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Moseley Braun	557,694	38.3%
	Democratic	Alan J. Dixon (incumbent)	504,077	34.6%
	Democratic	Albert Hofeld	394,497	27.1%
Total votes			1,456,268	100.0%

Democratic primary results by county

  Moseley Braun

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Dixon

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Hofeld

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Analysis

This defeat shocked observers; at the time no senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. He was a moderate Democrat who recently voted to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.^[4] Braun, a black woman and known reformist liberal, got a large share of black, liberal, and women voters ("The Year of the Woman").

In addition, she carried Cook County, Illinois, by far the most populated county in the state. Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.

Republican primary

Richard S. Williamson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Republican Primary, United States Senate, 1992^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard S. Williamson	608,079	100.00%
Total votes			608,079	100.00%

General election

Candidates

Major

• Carol Moseley Braun (D), Cook County Recorder of Deeds, former State Rep.
• Richard S. Williamson (R), former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

Minor

• Kathleen Kaku (SW)
• Chad Koppie (I)
• Alan J. Port (NA)
• Andrew B. Spiegel (L)
• Charles A. Winter (NL)

Results

Moseley Braun won the 1992 Illinois Senate Race by a fairly comfortable margin. Moseley Braun did well as expected in Cook County home of Chicago. Williamson did well in the Chicago collar counties, and most northern parts of the state. Moseley Braun had a surprisingly strong showing in southern Illinois, which Republicans had come to dominate in the last several decades. Braun also did well in Rock Island County.

1992 Illinois U.S. Senate Election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Carol Moseley Braun	2,631,229	53.27
	Republican	Richard S. Williamson	2,126,833	43.06
	Independent	Chad Koppie	100,422	2.03
	Libertarian	Andrew B. Spiegel	34,527	0.70
	Natural Law	Charles A. Winter	15,118	0.31
	New Alliance	Alan J. Port	12,689	0.26
	Socialist Workers	Kathleen Kaku	10,056	0.20
	Populist	John Justice	8,656	0.16
	Write-in	Don A. Togersen	25	0.00
	Write-in	Walter A. Feiss	1	0.00
	Write-in	Roe Conn	1	0.00
Turnout			4,939,557	74.84
	Democratic hold		Swing

See also

• 1992 United States Senate elections

References

1. "State of Illinois official vote cast at the primary election held on ..." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. "State of Illinois official vote cast at the general election ." Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
3. "United States Senator". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
4. Charles Babington and Dan Balz (August 17, 2005). "Democrats Feel Heat From Left On Roberts". The Washington Post. Washington Post Company. p. A01. Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, said [...] 'History shows us that voters turned on Alan Dixon for his vote on Clarence Thomas and voters gave Arlen Specter the toughest reelection of his life.'