This was the only time in Illinois history that the state had the elected a governor and a lieutenant governor from different political parties (there were, however, instances in Illinois where an appointed lieutenant governor had been of a different political party than the governor).
Due to changes implemented by the passage of the 1970 Constitution of Illinois, in all subsequent elections, gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial candidates have been jointly elected on a ticket. Therefore, this was the last Illinois election held for the sole purpose of electing a lieutenant governor.
The 1970 Constitution of Illinois made it so that the office would become an appointive office by 1975, thus rendering the 1968 election the last instance in which an election was held for this office.
Incumbent Clerk of the Supreme Court Fae Searcydied in office on March 25, 1968. However, she had already filed to be on the ballot before her death.[5] Instead of being listed by her own name, Fae Searcy opted to be listed on the ballot as "Mrs. Earle Benjamin Searcy",[1][2] her legal name. She had succeeded her husband in the office after his own death. Mrs. Searcy remained on the ballot, and received 32 percent of the vote despite being dead. However, Justin Taft outperformed her, with 45.01 percent of the vote, winning the nomination.
Clerk of the Supreme Court Republican primary[1][2]
The election saw the reelection of incumbent third-term Republican Timothy W. Swain and incumbent second-term Republican member Earl M. Hughes and the election of new Republican member Russell W. "Ruck" Steger.[1][6]
In order to be approved, legislatively referred state statues required the support of a majority of those voting on the statute.[1] Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.[1] A call for a constitutional convention required votes equal to a majority of the all ballots cast in the general election.[1]
Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act, a legislatively referred bond question, failed to pass.[1][8] It proposed a $1 billion bond act for the development of natural resources.[8]
Bond measures needed a vote equal to majority of the votes cast for whichever chamber of the Illinois General Assembly had the highest cumulative vote count.[1] In this election, the highest turnout for a chamber's elections was 4,268,956, so the needed vote total for the measure to have pass would have been 2,134,479.[1]
Illinois Natural Resources Development Bond Act[1][8]
In 1968, voters were presented with a referendum on whether to call a constitutional convention.[9][10] This was the first such vote held in the State of Illinois since 1934.[10] That call failed. The chief sponsor of the legislation that created this ballot measure was Senate Republican leader W. Russell Arrington.[11] Democratic Governor Otto Kerner Jr. was supportive of holding a constitutional convention.[11]
The call for the convention required the votes of an equal majority of all ballots cast in the 1968 general elections.[1]
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