2020 United States Senate election in Illinois
← 2014 November 3, 2020 2026 →
Turnout71.36%
 
Nominee Dick Durbin Mark Curran
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 3,278,930 2,319,870
Percentage 54.93% 38.87%
Durbin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Curran:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%
     No data
U.S. senator before election

Dick Durbin
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dick Durbin
Democratic

Elections in Illinois
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The 2020 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Illinois, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections and the Illinois Fair Tax. Incumbent Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who had been Senate Minority Whip since 2015, won reelection to a fifth term in office, defeating Republican nominee Mark Curran.

Durbin decisively won re-election with 54.9% of the vote. Key to Durbin's landslide victory was the heavily populated and very Democratic Cook County home of Chicago, which he won by around 560,000 votes. Durbin also did well in the suburban, often called collar counties of Chicago, winning all of them except McHenry County. Durbin did well in Champaign County, home of the University of Illinois, and St. Clair County, where his birth home of East St. Louis is located. Nevertheless, this was Durbin's first election in which he failed to win the formerly Democratic-leaning rural Alexander County. Curran did well in most rural areas of the state, including winning rural Alexander County where a Republican hasn't won since 1972. Durbin became the first senator from Illinois to be elected five consecutive times since senators began being elected by popular vote in 1913.

Durbin flipped eight counties that he lost in 2014 that being DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, McLean, Peoria, Will and Winnebago counties, but lost the counties of Alexander, Calhoun, Gallatin, Pulaski and Whiteside.[1]

Election information

The primaries and general elections coincide with those for federal (president and House) and those for state offices.

Turnout

For the primaries, turnout was 28.36% with 2,279,439 votes cast.[2][3]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Dick Durbin
Organizations

Results

Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dick Durbin (incumbent) 1,446,118 100.00%
Total votes 1,446,118 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Mark Curran
U.S. representatives
U.S. Lieutenant Governors
U.S. Attorneys General
  • Jim Ryan, former Attorney General of Illinois
Illinois legislators
Newspapers
Organizations
Individuals

[30]

Results

Results by county
Curran
  •   Curran—60–70%
  •   Curran—50–60%
  •   Curran—40–50%
  •   Curran—30–40%
  •   Curran—<30%
Hubbard
  •   Hubbard—40–50%
  •   Hubbard—30–40%
  •   Hubbard—<30
Tarter
  •   Tarter—30–40%
  •   Tarter—<30
Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mark Curran 205,747 41.55%
Republican Peggy Hubbard 113,189 22.86%
Republican Robert Marshall 75,561 15.26%
Republican Tom Tarter 73,009 14.74%
Republican Casey Chlebek 27,655 5.58%
Republican Richard Mayers (write-in) 7 0.00%
Total votes 495,168 100.00%

Other candidates

A legal ruling, taking note of the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois, allowed the Libertarian and Green Parties to have their selected candidate on the ballot without the normal signature requirements, as they each ran a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016.[31]

Constitution Party

Removed from Ballot

Green Party

Nominee

Independent American Party

Withdrawn

Libertarian Party

Nominee

Willie Wilson Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

Withdrawn

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[47] Safe D October 29, 2020
Inside Elections[48] Safe D October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[49] Safe D November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[50] Safe D October 30, 2020
Politico[51] Safe D November 2, 2020
RCP[52] Safe D October 23, 2020
DDHQ[53] Safe D November 3, 2020
538[54] Safe D November 2, 2020
Economist[55] Safe D November 2, 2020

Endorsements

Dick Durbin (D)
U.S. presidents
Newspapers
Organizations
Unions
Mark Curran (R)
Newspapers
Organizations
Willie Wilson (WW)
Alderman
Organizations
  • Chicago Police Union[81]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Dick
Durbin (D) 		Mark
Curran (R) 		Willie
Wilson (I) 		Other Undecided
Research Co. October 31 – November 1, 2020 450 (LV) ± 4.6% 52% 30% – 4%[b] 14%
Victory Research October 26 – November 1, 2020 1,208 (LV) ± 2.8% 51% 26% 15% 5%[c] 4%
Hypothetical polling
with Dick Durbin, generic Republican and Willie Wilson
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Dick
Durbin (D) 		Generic Republican (R) Willie
Wilson (I) 		Undecided
Ogden & Fry/Citizens for Willie Wilson[A] September 4, 2019 449 (LV) ± 4.31% 44% 34% 4% 18%
with Dick Durbin and Willie Wilson
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Dick
Durbin (D) 		Willie
Wilson (I) 		Undecided
Ogden & Fry/Citizens for Willie Wilson[A] September 4, 2019 420 (LV) ± 4.31% 44% 25% 31%

Results

Durbin also kept his landslide winning streak by winning with at least a ten-point margin. Durbin was sworn in on January 3, 2021, for his fifth term, which expires on January 3, 2027.

United States Senate election in Illinois, 2020[82]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Dick Durbin (incumbent) 3,278,930 54.93% +1.38%
Republican Mark Curran 2,319,870 38.87% -3.82%
Willie Wilson Party Willie Wilson 237,699 3.98% N/A
Libertarian Danny Malouf 75,673 1.27% -2.49%
Green David Black 56,711 0.95% N/A
Write-in 18 0.00% N/A
Total votes 5,968,901 100.0%
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ "Someone else" with 4%
  3. ^ Malouf (L) with 3%; Black (G) with 2%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ a b Poll sponsored by Willie Wilson's campaign

References

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External links

Official campaign websites
Elections in Illinois
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