1998 United States Senate election in Illinois
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Template:ElectionsIL The 1998 United States Senate election in Illinois was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun decided to run for re-election, despite the number of controversies that she had in her first term. Republican State Senator Peter Fitzgerald won his party's primary with a slim margin of victory. Fitzgerald won with a margin of victory of approximately 3%. He won all but five counties and became the only Republican Senate candidate to defeat a Democratic incumbent in 1998.
Background
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for House and as those for state offices.
For the primary elections, turnout was 20.55%, with 1,386,694 votes cast.[1][2] For the general election, turnout was 50.25%, with 3,394,521 votes cast.[2][3]
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Carol Moseley Braun, incumbent U.S. Senator
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent) | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | ||
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Republican primary
Candidates
- Loleta Didrickson, Illinois Comptroller
- Peter Fitzgerald, State Senator from Inverness
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Peter Fitzgerald | Script error: No such module "string". | 51.83% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Loleta Didrickson | Script error: No such module "string". | 48.17% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | ||
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Reform primary
Candidates
- Steve Denarie
- Don A. Torgersen
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Don A. Torgersen | Script error: No such module "string". | 53.52% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Steve Denari | Script error: No such module "string". | 46.48% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.00% | ||
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General election
Campaign
During Moseley Braun's first term as U.S. senator, she was plagued by several major controversies. Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Election Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted-for campaign funds. The agency found some small violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS.[4]
In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. Despite U.S. sanctions against that country due to Abacha's actions, the senator did not notify, nor register her trip with, the State Department. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress.[5]
Peter Fitzgerald, a state senator, won the Republican primary, defeating Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson with 51.8% of the vote, to Didrickson's 48.2%.[6] Fitzgerald spent nearly $7 million in the Republican primary.[7] He had a major financial advantage, as he was a multimillionaire. He ended up spending $12 million in his election victory.[8]
In September, Moseley Braun created controversy again by using the word "nigger" to describe how she claims to be a victim of racism.[8]
Most polls over the first few months showed Moseley-Braun trailing badly. However, after she was helped in the final month by notable Democrats such as first lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez, three polls published in the last week showed her within the margin of error, and, in one poll, running even with Fitzgerald.[9]
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample sizeTemplate:Efn |
Margin of error |
Carol Moseley Braun (D) |
Peter Fitzgerald (R) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zogby International[10]Template:Efn-ua | October 28–29, 1998 | 703 (LV) | ± 4.0% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|45% | 42% | 13% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | October 24–26, 1998 | 813 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 41% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|49% | 10% |
| Market Shares Corp.[10]Template:Efn-ua | October 17–20, 1998 | 1,009 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 38% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|48% | 14% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | October 10–12, 1998 | 830 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 37% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|49% | 14% |
| Market Shares Corp.[10]Template:Efn-ua | October 3–6, 1998 | 1,009 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 36% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|49% | 15% |
| Market Shares Corp.[10]Template:Efn-ua | September 19–22, 1998 | 1,102 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 38% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|48% | 14% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | September 11–14, 1998 | 811 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 37% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|46% | 17% |
| KRC Communications Research[10]Template:Efn-ua | September 8–10, 1998 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.8% | 35% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|50% | 15% |
| Zogby International[10]Template:Efn-ua | August 31 – September 1, 1998 | 726 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 35% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|46% | 19% |
| Market Shares Corp.[10]Template:Efn-ua | August 11–17, 1998 | 1,109 (RV) | ± 4.0% | 39% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|46% | 15% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | July 10–13, 1998 | 807 (LV) | ± 3.5% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|46% | 42% | 12% |
| University of Illinois[10]Template:Efn-ua | June 9 – July 3, 1998 | 465 (LV) | ± 5.0% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|49% | 31% | 20% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | March 8–10, 1998 | 831 (LV) | ± 3.0% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|42% | 41% | 17% |
| ?[10]Template:Efn-ua | March 5–10, 1998 | 952 (RV) | ± 3.0% | 41% | 41% | 18% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | February 6–8, 1998 | 804 (RV) | ± 3.5% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|43% | 38% | 19% |
| Market Shares Corp.[10]Template:Efn-ua | January 28–29, 1998 | 700 (RV) | ± 3.7% | style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|41% | 35% | 24% |
Results
The incumbent Moseley Braun was narrowly defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Moseley Braun only won five of Illinois's 102 counties. Despite this, the race was kept close by Moseley Braun running up massive margins in Cook County, which is home to the city of Chicago. However, it wasn't quite enough to win. Fitzgerald would only serve one term in the Senate. Fitzgerald initially intended to run for a second term.
However, after many Republicans and Democrats announced their intentions to run, Fitzgerald decided to retire. Fitzgerald served from January 3, 1999, to January 3, 2005. On January 3, 2005, Fitzgerald was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama.
[12]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />±%Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Peter Fitzgerald | Template:Replace | 50.35% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Carol Moseley Braun (incumbent) | 1,610,496 | 47.44% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Don Torgersen | 74,704 | 2.20% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| US Taxpayers | Raymond Stalker | 280 | 0.01% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Total votes | 3,394,521 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
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See also
Notes
- Partisan clients
References
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- ↑ Slate, Is Carol Moseley-Braun a Crook?", February 19, 2003
- ↑ NPR, "2004 Democratic Presidential Candidates: Carol Moseley Braun", Npr.org, May 6, 2003
- ↑ Election Results: General Primary - 3/17/1998 Template:Webarchive, Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ =GE&ElectionID=11&SearchType =OfficeSearch&OfficeID=1305&QueryType =Office& Illinois State Board of Elections Ballots Cast for U.S. Senator 11/3/1998 Template:Webarchive Retrieved October 17, 2015.
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Template:Illinois elections Template:United States elections, 1998