1956 United States Senate election in Illinois
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The 1956 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 6, 1956[1] to elect one of Illinois's members to the United States Senate. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen won reelection to a second term.
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November 6, 1956
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| Turnout | 81.74% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Dirksen: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Stengel: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Background
The primaries and general election coincided with those for federal offices (President and House) and state elections.
Primaries were held on April 10.[1]
Turnout in the primary elections was 26.26%, with a total of 1,307,357 votes cast.[1][2]
Turnout during the general election was 81.74%, with 4,264,830 votes cast.[1][3]
Republican primary
Candidates
- Everett Dirksen, incumbent U.S. senator since 1951
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Everett Dirksen (incumbent) | 686,268 | 100 | |
| Write-in | 34 | 0.01 | ||
| Total votes | 686,302 | 100 | ||
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Richard Stengel, state representative from Rock Island[4][5]
Declined
- James Gray, state senator from East St. Louis[4]
- Scott W. Lucas, former U.S. senator[6]
- Roy E. Yung, former director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture[4]
Results
The Democratic Party nominated Richard Stengel, who ran unopposed in the primary.[5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Richard Stengel | 621,005 | 99.99 | |
| Write-in | 50 | 0.01 | ||
| Total votes | 621,055 | 100 | ||
General election
Candidates
- Everett Dirksen, incumbent U.S. senator since 1951 (Republican)
- Louis Fisher, activist and perennial candidate (Socialist Labor)
- Richard Stengel, state representative from Rock Island[4][5] (Democratic)
Results
Dirksen carried 88 of the state's 102 counties.[1] Among the 88 counties that Dirksen won was the state's most populous county, Cook County, in which Dirksen won with 51.13% to Stengel's 48.63%.[1] Despite losing in Cook County, Stengel performed better in the county than he did in the cumulative vote of the remaining 101 counties[1] In the cumulative vote of the state's other 101 counties, Dirksen won 57.32% to Stengel's 42.58%.[1] 51.97% of the votes cast in the election were from Cook County.[1]
While he lost the overall vote in Cook County as a whole, in Cook County's principal city, Chicago (where 37.79% of all votes cast in the election were from), Stengel won 54.33% of the vote to Dirksen's 45.37%[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Everett McKinley Dirksen (incumbent) | 2,307,552 | 54.11 | |
| Democratic | Richard Stengel | 1,949,883 | 45.72 | |
| Socialist Labor | Louis Fisher | 7,587 | 0.18 | |
| Write-in | 8 | 0.00 | ||
| Total votes | 4,264,830 | 100 | ||