Illinois Secretary of State election, 2014
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November 4, 2014 |
March 18, 2014 |
Jesse White  |
Jesse White |
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The Illinois Secretary of State election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Jesse White (D) was first elected in 1998 and was running for re-election in 2014. White faced Republican candidate Mike Webster and Libertarian Party candidate Chris Michel in the general election. White won election to another four-year term.
The past elections section shows that White defeated opponents by double-digit percentages in each election since 1998.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Illinois, state law provides for a closed primary where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters state their affiliation at the polls and any voter may change their affiliation on the day of the primary. A voter's eligibility to vote a party's ballot may be challenged.[1]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Candidates
General election
Jesse White - Incumbent 
Mike Webster - Cass School District Board of Education President[2]
Chris Michel[3]
Failed to qualify
Sheldon Shafer[4]
Ted Stufflebeam
Results
General election
| Secretary of State of Illinois, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jesse White Incumbent |
65.7% | 2,374,849 | |
| Republican | Mike Webster | 31.4% | 1,134,452 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Michel | 2.9% | 104,498 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0% | 809 | |
| Total Votes | 3,614,608 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
Polls
| Illinois Secretary of State - General election | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Jesse White * (D) | Mike Webster (R) | Chris Michel (L) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Reboot Illinois (October 8, 2014) | 64.06% | 26.13% | 4.95% | 4.86% | +/-3 | 1,070 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent status.
Past elections
2010
| Illinois Secretary of State, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jesse White Incumbent |
69.9% | 2,590,222 | |
| Republican | Robert Enriquez | 27% | 1,001,544 | |
| Libertarian | Josh Hanson | 3.1% | 115,458 | |
| Total Votes | 3,707,224 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
2006
| Illinois Secretary of State, General Election, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jesse White Incumbent |
62.8% | 2,204,762 | |
| Republican | Dan Rutherford | 33% | 1,159,363 | |
| Green | Karen "Young" Peterson | 4.2% | 145,724 | |
| Write-In | Alaka Waikar | 0% | 1 | |
| Total Votes | 3,509,850 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
2002
| Illinois Secretary of State, General Election, 2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jesse White Incumbent |
67.9% | 2,390,181 | |
| Republican | Kris O'Rourke Cohn | 29.9% | 1,051,672 | |
| Libertarian | Matt Beauchamp | 2.2% | 78,830 | |
| Total Votes | 3,520,683 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
1998
| Illinois Secretary of State, General Election, 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jesse White |
55.5% | 1,874,626 | |
| Republican | Al Salvi | 42.5% | 1,437,420 | |
| Reform | Sandra Millatti | 2% | 67,696 | |
| Write-In | Therese M. Battaglia | 0% | 229 | |
| Total Votes | 3,379,971 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
Campaign finance
Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $1,124,448 during the election. This information was last updated on May 13, 2015.[5]
| Campaign Contribution Totals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| Jesse White |
Illinois Secretary of State |  |
$1,078,099 | |
| Mike Webster |
Illinois Secretary of State |  |
$46,349 | |
| Chris Michel |
Illinois Secretary of State | |
$0 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $1,124,448 | |||
Key deadlines
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 2, 2013 | Last day of petition filing for established political parties |
| January 16, 2014 | Last day to file a Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate |
| March 18, 2014 | Primary election |
| November 4, 2014 | General election |
| November 25, 2014 | Last day for canvassing election results by proper canvassing board |
| January 12, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials in general election |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Illinois + Secretary + State + elections"
See also
- Illinois Secretary of State
- Illinois state executive official elections, 2014
- State executive official elections, 2014
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 10, § 5/7–59," accessed October 20, 2025
- ↑ Mike Webster for Secretary of State 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed November 29, 2013
- ↑ Libertarian Party of Illinois, "Campaigns: Our Statewide Candidates," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Green Party, "Meet Sheldon Shafer, candidate for Secretary of State," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of Illinois 2014 elections," accessed May 13, 2015
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