1990 Illinois gubernatorial election
The 1990 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 6, 1990 to elect the governor and [Lieutenant Governor of Illinois|lieutenant Governor of Illinois|governor of Illinois]. Republican Jim Edgar, the Illinois Secretary of State, narrowly defeated Democrat Neil Hartigan, the Illinois Attorney General, by about 80,000 votes out of the over 3.2 million cast.
The incumbent Republican governor, Jim Thompson, chose not to seek a fifth term, making this the first open-seat gubernatorial election in Illinois since 1952. It was among the most competitive gubernatorial races of 1990.
Background
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections, as well as those for other state offices. The election was part of the 1990 Illinois elections.For the primaries, turnout for the gubernatorial primaries was 26.11%, with 1,570,596 votes cast and turnout for the lieutenant gubernatorial primaries was 21.67% with 1,303,250 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 54.00%, with 3,257,410 votes cast.