United States Senate election in Illinois, 2020

Elections in Illinois, 2020

• Election date: Nov. 3
• Registration deadline(s): Nov. 3 (in person); Oct. 6 (by mail); Oct. 18 (online)
• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Recount laws

• Early voting starts: Sept. 24
• Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Nov. 3 (postmarked); Nov. 17 (received)
• Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
• Voter ID: No ID
• Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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2022 → ← 2016
U.S. Senate, Illinois
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 2, 2019
Primary: March 17, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Dick Durbin (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Illinois
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
U.S. Senate, Illinois U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th Illinois elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Voters in Illinois elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Dick Durbin won election in the general election for U.S. Senate Illinois.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
December 2, 2019	March 17, 2020	November 3, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Dick Durbin (D). Durbin was first elected in 1996.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Illinois modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

• Absentee/mail-in voting: Mail-in ballot applications were sent to all registered voters in the general election who cast ballots in the 2018 general election, the 2019 consolidated election, or the 2020 primary election.
• Candidate filing procedures: The following changes were made to the filing procedures for unaffiliated and new-party candidates: petition signature requirements were reduced to 10 percent of their original numbers; candidates were authorized to collect petition signatures electronically; and the filing deadline was extended to July 20, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Illinois

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Illinois on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dick Durbin (D)	54.9	3,278,930
		Mark Curran (R)	38.9	2,319,870
		Willie Wilson (Willie Wilson Party)	4.0	237,699
		Danny Malouf (L)	1.3	75,673
		David Black (G)	1.0	56,711
	Submit photo	Kevin Keely (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	10
		Lowell Seida (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	6
	Submit photo	Albert Schaal (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	2

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,968,901
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Patrick Feges (Independent)
• Chad Koppie (Constitution Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Incumbent Dick Durbin advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dick Durbin	100.0	1,446,118

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,446,118
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Anne Stava-Murray (D)
• Marilyn Jordan Lawlor (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Curran	41.6	205,747
		Peggy Hubbard	22.9	113,189
		Robert Marshall	15.3	75,561
		Tom Tarter	14.7	73,009
		Casey Chlebek	5.6	27,655
	Submit photo	Richard Mayers (Write-in)	0.0	7

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 495,168
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Burak Agun (R)
• Dean Seppelfrick (R)
• Connor VlaKancic (R)
• Preston Nelson (R)

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Illinois in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Illinois, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Illinois	U.S. Senate	Democratic and Republican	5,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	12/2/2019	Source
Illinois	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	Pending	10% of original requirement (by court order)	N/A	N/A	7/20/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election. It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Dick Durbin	Democratic Party	$10,539,866	$10,204,830	$1,076,487	As of December 31, 2020
Mark Curran	Republican Party	$376,608	$376,608	$0	As of December 31, 2020
David Black	Green Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Danny Malouf	Libertarian Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Willie Wilson	Willie Wilson Party	$3,083,272	$3,060,000	$1,829,015	As of December 31, 2020
Kevin Keely	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Albert Schaal	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Lowell Seida	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Illinois, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Election history

2016

U.S. Senate, Illinois General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tammy Duckworth	54.9%	3,012,940
	Republican	Mark Kirk Incumbent	39.8%	2,184,692
	Libertarian	Kenton McMillen	3.2%	175,988
	Green	Scott Summers	2.1%	117,619
	N/A	Write-in	0%	639
Total Votes				5,491,878
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

U.S. Senate, Illinois General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Richard Durbin Incumbent	53.5%	1,929,637
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	42.7%	1,538,522
	Libertarian	Sharon Hansen	3.8%	135,316
Total Votes				3,603,475
Source: Illinois Secretary of State Official Results

2010

On November 2, 2010, Kirk won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias (D), LeAlan M. Jones (G), Mike Labno (L), Robert L. "Bob" Zadek (I), Will Boyd (I), Corey Dabney (I), Susanne Atanus (I), Shon-Tiyon "Santiago" Horton (I), Avner Nager (I), Stan Jagla (I), Darren Raichart (I), and Lowell M. Seida (I) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Illinois General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mark Kirk	48%	1,778,698
	Democratic	Alexi Giannoulias	46.4%	1,719,478
	Green	LeAlan M. Jones	3.2%	117,914
	Libertarian	Mike Labno	2.4%	87,247
	Independent	Robert L. "Bob" Zadek	0%	561
	Independent	Will Boyd	0%	468
	Independent	Corey Dabney	0%	33
	Independent	Susanne Atanus	0%	19
	Independent	Shon-Tiyon "Santiago" Horton	0%	16
	Independent	Avner Nager	0%	15
	Independent	Stan Jagla	0%	12
	Independent	Darren Raichart	0%	9
	Independent	Lowell M. Seida	0%	3
Total Votes				3,704,473

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2020
• United States Senate elections, 2020

Footnotes

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Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)