1990 Illinois gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1990 United States gubernatorial elections.

1990 Illinois gubernatorial election

November 6, 1990
Turnout	54.00% 1.63 pp
Nominee Jim Edgar Neil Hartigan Party Republican Democratic Running mate Bob Kustra Jim Burns Popular vote 1,653,126 1,569,217 Percentage 50.75% 48.17%
Edgar:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Hartigan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election James R. Thompson Republican Elected Governor Jim Edgar Republican

The 1990 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 6, 1990 to elect the governor and lieutenant 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. As of 2024, this is the second-closest Illinois gubernatorial election in the last 40 years, with only the 2010 race having a narrower margin.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal elections (Senate and House), 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.

Democratic primary

Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, running unopposed.

Governor

Democratic gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Neil F. Hartigan	802,901	100
Total votes			802,901	100

Lieutenant governor

James B. Burns, future attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, won the Democratic nomination, running unopposed.

Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James B. Burns	719,091	100
Total votes			719,091	100

Republican primary

Governor

Illinois Secretary of State Jim Edgar defeated investor and conservative political activist Steve Baer, as well as perennial candidate Robert Marshall.

Republican gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Edgar	482,441	62.84
	Republican	Steve Baer	256,889	33.46
	Republican	Robert Marshall	28,365	3.69
Total votes			767,695	100

Lieutenant governor

Illinois State Senator Bob Kustra won the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Kustra	584,121	100
	Republican	Henry Gillman	38	0.00
Total votes			584,159	100

Solidarity primary

Only 13 votes were cast in the primary, all write in votes for Jeff W. Smith. The party, nevertheless, ultimately nominated Jessie Fields.

Governor

Solidarity gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Write-in	Jeff W. Smith	13	100
Total votes			13	100

General election

1990 gubernatorial election, Illinois f

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Edgar	1,653,126	50.75	−1.92
	Democratic	Neil Hartigan	1,569,217	48.17	+41.53
	Illinois Solidarity	Jessie Fields	35,067	1.08	−38.89
Majority			83,909	2.58	−10.12
Turnout			3,257,410
	Republican hold		Swing