Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 6, 1956. Primaries were held on April 10, 1960. The results strongly favored the Republican Party, which retained control both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly as well as all statewide elected executive offices. They also won the state in the presidential election, retained the Senate seat up for election, and flipped a U.S. House seat.
Election information
Turnout
In the primary election turnout was 36.96%, with a total of 1,839,577 ballots cast. In the general election turnout was 85.95%, with a total of 4,484,956 ballots cast.
Federal elections
United States President
Illinois voted for the Republican ticket of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. For the second consecutive election, Illinois' vote for the Republican Eisenhower-Nixon ticket came despite the fact that former Illinois GovernorAdlai Stevenson II was the Democratic presidential nominee.
United States Senate
Republican Senator Everett Dirksen was reelected to a second term.
All 25 Illinois seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1956. The Republicans flipped one Democratic-held seat, leaving the composition of Illinois' House delegation to consist of 14 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Incumbent Auditor of Public Accounts Lloyd Morey, a Republican appointed in 1960 to replace Orville Hodge, did not seek reelection. Republican Elbert S. Smith was elected to succeed him. Before being charged with crimes, Orville Hodge had been seeking reelection, even winning the Republican primary.
Incumbent Treasurer Warren Wright, a Republican, did not seek reelection to a second-consecutive term, instead opting to run for the Republican nomination for governor. Republican Elmer J. Hoffman was elected to succeed him in office, earning Hoffman a second non-consecutive term as Treasurer. This was the first Illinois Treasurer election to a four-year term, as voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1954 which extended term length from two to four-years beginning in 1956.
An at-large election using cumulative voting was held for three of the nine seats for Trustees of University of Illinois. All three Republican nominees won. The election was for 6-year terms. Incumbent Republican Wayne A. Johnston won a second term. Incumbent Republican Timothy W. Swain, appointed in 1955, won election to his first full term. Also, joining them in winning election, was Republican Earl M. Hughes. Incumbent first-term Republican Herbert B. Megran did had not been nominated for reelection.
Judicial elections
On April 10, special elections were held for vacancies on the Third and Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Districts. On November 2, special elections were held for three vacancies on the Superior Court of Cook County.
Ballot measures
Two ballot measures, were put before Illinois voters in 1956.
The Revenue Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Article IX Sections 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10 and repeal Article IX Section 13 of the 1870 Constitution of Illinois to give more leeway to the legislature in creating tax policy, while specifically forbidding the authorization of a graduated income tax, failed to meet either threshold for adoption. In order for constitutional amendments to pass, they required either two-thirds support among those specifically voting on the measure or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.
