Official Illinois vote tally shows lowest primary turnout since 2014

[July 30, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The primary election in Illinois is now certified and voter turnout was the lowest it’s been since 2014.

Friday was the deadline for the Illinois State Board of Elections to certify the June 28, 2022, primary election. Top line numbers show a voter turnout of 21.68%, more than half the turnout of 2016’s primary, but more than the 18.09% in 2014. In total, there were 1,757,872 votes cast out of 8.1 million registered voters.

Democrats led with nearly 912,000 votes cast, or 51.9% of the vote. Republicans pulled more than 812,000 ballots, or 46.2%.

A 192-page official canvas for the primary available below shows vote totals by county, by party and by candidate in each county.

For statewide races, Kathy Salvi got 30.23% of the vote in a seven-way race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Salvi will face off against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, who ran in the primary unopposed.

State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, got 57.48% of the vote in a six-way race for the Republican gubernatorial primary. Bailey will face off with incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who with 91.88% of the vote won his Democratic primary against the relatively unknown and unfunded Beverly Miles.

Republican attorney general candidate Tom DeVore got 44.21% of the vote in a three-way race for the GOP nomination. He’ll face off against incumbent Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who was unopposed in the primary.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, got 76.26% of the vote in a two-way race for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State. Since Secretary of State Jesse White was not running for reelection, in the four-way race for the Democrats, Alexi Giannoulias got 52.12% of the vote and will square up with Brady.

There were not competitive primaries for Republicans or Democrats in the race for state comptroller or treasurer. Democratic incumbent Treasurer Michael Frerichs will face off against state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon. Democratic incumbent Comptroller Susana Mendoza will be up against Republican Shannon Teresi.

Aug. 10 is the first day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot. Aug. 26 is when the state elections board will certify the November election ballot to include all independent or new party candidates. Early voting starts Sept. 29. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.