Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 5, 1946.[1]

1946 Illinois elections

← 1944 November 5, 1946 1948 →

Primaries were held April 9, 1946.[1]

Election information

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1946 was a midterm election year in the United States.

Turnout

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In the primary election 1,531,657 ballots were cast (741,821 Democratic and 789,836 Republican).[1]

In the general election 3,619,332 ballots were cast.[1]

Federal elections

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United States House

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1946 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois
 
← 1944 November 5, 1946 (1946-11-05) 1948 →

All 26 Illinois seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Seats won 20 6

 

All 26 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1946.

Republicans flipped five Republican-held seats, leaving the Illinois House delegation to consist of 20 Republicans and 6 Democrats.

State elections

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Treasurer

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1946 Illinois State Treasurer election
 
← 1944 November 5, 1946 1948 →
 
Nominee Richard Yates Rowe Sam Keys
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,959,881 1,480,597
Percentage 56.73% 42.86%

Treasurer before election

Conrad F. Becker
Republican

Elected Treasurer

Richard Yates Rowe
Republican

Incumbent first-term Treasurer, Republican Conrad F. Becker, did not seek reelection. Republican Richard Yates Rowe was elected to succeed him.

Democratic primary

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Treasurer Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sam Keys 385,419 100
Total votes 385,419 100

Republican primary

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Treasurer Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Yates Rowe 411,070 61.22
Republican Stephen A. Day 202,594 30.17
Republican I. Jay Brown 57,838 8.61
Write-in Others 4 0.00
Total votes 671,506 100

General election

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Treasurer election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Yates Rowe 1,959,881 56.73
Democratic Sam Keys 1,480,597 42.86
Prohibition Robert W. Melven 14,144 0.41
Total votes 3,454,622 100

Superintendent of Public Instruction

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1946 Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction election
 
← 1942 November 5, 1946 1950 →
 
Nominee Vernon L. Nickell C. H. Engle
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,959,738 1,439,645
Percentage 57.37% 42.14%

Superintendent before election

Vernon L. Nickell
Republican

Elected Superintendent

Vernon L. Nickell
Republican

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Vernon L. Nickell, a Republican, was reelected to a second term.

Democratic primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic C. H. Engle 567,801 100
Total votes 567,801 100

Republican primary

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Superintendent of Public Instruction Republican primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent) 599,582 100
Write-in Others 5 0.00
Total votes 599,587 100

General election

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Superintendent of Public Instruction election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Vernon L. Nickell (incumbent) 1,959,738 57.37
Democratic C. Hobart Engle 1,439,645 42.14
Prohibition Henry L. Lundquist 16,813 0.49
Total votes 3,416,196 100

State Senate

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Seats in the Illinois Senate were up for election in 1946. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

State House of Representatives

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Seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 1946. Republicans retained control of the chamber.

Trustees of University of Illinois

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1946 Trustees of University of Illinois election
← 1944 November 5, 1946 1948 →

3 out of 9 seats on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees
5 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Seats before 6 3
Seats after 6 3
Seat change    
Popular vote 5,763,206 4,280,012
Percentage 57.11% 42.42%
Swing   2.03%   8.10%
Seats up 3 0
Races won 3 0

[1][2][3]

An election was held for three of nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois. Republicans won all three seats. However, since all three seats up for election were already held by Republicans, this did not change the partisan composition of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, with the board's 9–3 Republican majority over Democrats being retained.

First-term Republican incumbents Park Livingston and John R. Fornof were reelected.[1][2] New Republican member Doris Simpson Holt was elected.[1][2] Third-term Republican incumbent Helen M. L. Grigsby was not renominated.[2]

Trustees of the University of Illinois election[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Park Livingston (incumbent) 1,961,346½ 19.44
Republican John R. Fornof (incumbent) 1,915,895 18.69
Republican Doris Simpson Holt 1,885,964½ 18.69
Democratic Don Forsyth 1,463,251½ 14.50
Democratic James Everett Etherton 1,420,780 14.08
Democratic Albert H. Wohlers 1,395,980½ 13.83
Prohibition Henry Johnson Long 16,488½ 0.16
Prohibition Mildred E. Young 16,202 0.16
Prohibition Louis Gilbert Krandell 14,776 0.15
Total votes 10,090,684½ 100

Judicial elections

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On June 3, 1946, elections were held to fill vacancies on the Superior Court of Cook County.[1] On November 5, 1946, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Circuit Court of Cook County.[1] On December 17, 1946, a special election was held to fill a vacancy on the Sixth Judicial Circuit.[1]

Ballot measures

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Two measures was put before voters in 1946.

Illinois Gateway Amendment

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The Illinois Gateway Amendment, a proposed amendment to Section 2 of Article XIV of the Constitution, failed to meet the threshold for approval.[1][4]

If approved, this amendment would have enabled the legislature to submit legislatively referred amendments to up to three constitutional articles per session.[4]

In order to be approved, legislatively referred constitutional amendments required approval equal to a majority of voters voting in the entire general election.[4][5]

Illinois Gateway Amendment[1][4]
Option Votes % of all ballots
cast
Yes 1,273,653 35.19
No 368,108 10.17
Total votes 1,641,761 45.36

World War II Veterans' Compensation Act

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The World War II Veterans' Compensation Act, a legislatively referred bond issue, was approved by voters.[6]

The bond issue would be used to compensate veterans of World War II.[6]

It was required to be approved by a vote equal to vote for whichever chamber of the state legislature received the greatest vote total. In this case, that meant it needed to receive 1,709,721 votes.

World War II Veterans' Compensation Act[1]
Candidate Votes %
Yes 2,173,425 68.92
No 980,345 31.09
Total votes 3,153,770 100

Local elections

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Local elections were held. These included county elections, such as the Cook County elections.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the General Election, November 5, 1946 Judicial Elections, 1945, 1946 • Primary Election General Primary, April 9, 1946" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved July 9, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d e "Trustees, University of Illinois Board of Trustees" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "OFFICIAL VOTE of the STATE OF ILLINOIS Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION, November 7, 1944 PRIMARY ELECTION General Primary, April 11, 1944" (PDF). Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 2, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d "Illinois Gateway Amendment (1946)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Illinois Constitution of 1870 ARTICLE XIV Section 2
  6. ^ a b "Illinois Veterans' Compensation Question (1946)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 4, 2020.