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William Kelly (Illinois)
William Kelly was an independent candidate for governor of Illinois in the 2018 election. He originally declared his intention to run as a Republican candidate, but announced on December 4, 2017, that he would run as an independent candidate.[1] He did not make it onto the general election ballot.[2]
Kelly was nominated to run for governor by the Illinois Constitution Party on March 17, 2018. At the time of his nomination he was not a member of the party, but he stated, “I am very proud and honored to be part of the Constitution Party of Illinois’ effort to rebuild Illinois and our country, state by state." Kelly restated on March 20, 2018, that he would run as an independent candidate in the general election. The State Journal-Register reported on March 25, 2018, that the Constitution Party was in negotiations with Kelly to run as their candidate for governor.[3][4][5]
Biography
William Kelly was born in Chicago. He graduated from Christ the King grammar school and Quigley Preparatory Seminary South. During his time at Quigley, Kelly was a regular contributor to the “Mass for Shut-Ins” TV program on WGN-TV. Kelly's first job after graduating from Loyola University Chicago's Rome Center was at advocacy group Taxpayers United of Illinois, where he served as executive director. In addition to writing for publications including the Daily Caller and the Huffington Post, Kelly is the founder of production company RevDigital. His political career includes running for congress in 1994, for Illinois comptroller in 2010, and for mayor of Chicago in 2014. [6]
Elections
2018
Kelly was not on the official ballot.
General election
General election for Governor of Illinois
J.B. Pritzker defeated incumbent Bruce Rauner, William McCann, and Grayson Jackson in the general election for Governor of Illinois on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | J.B. Pritzker (D) | 54.5 | 2,479,746 |
 | Bruce Rauner (R) | 38.8 | 1,765,751 | |
 | William McCann (Conservative Party) | 4.2 | 192,527 | |
 | Grayson Jackson (L) | 2.4 | 109,518 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 115 | ||
| Total votes: 4,547,657 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | J.B. Pritzker | 45.1 | 597,756 |
 | Daniel K. Biss | 26.7 | 353,625 | |
 | Chris Kennedy | 24.4 | 322,730 | |
 | Tio Hardiman | 1.6 | 21,075 | |
 | Bob Daiber | 1.1 | 15,009 | |
 | Robert Marshall | 1.1 | 14,353 | |
| Total votes: 1,324,548 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Illinois
Incumbent Bruce Rauner defeated Jeanne M. Ives in the Republican primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Rauner | 51.5 | 372,124 |
 | Jeanne M. Ives | 48.5 | 350,038 | |
| Total votes: 722,162 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Governor of Illinois
Grayson Jackson defeated Matthew Scaro and Jon Stewart in the Libertarian primary for Governor of Illinois on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Grayson Jackson |
| Matthew Scaro | ||
 | Jon Stewart | |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Nominating convention
On March 30, 2017, Kelly announced that he would run for governor as a Republican.[7] Kelly announced on December 4, 2017, that he would instead run as an independent candidate.[1] On March 10, 2018, the Constitution Party chose Kelly as their gubernatorial nominee.[3]
2010
In 2010, Kelly ran for comptroller of Illinois. Kelly was defeated by incumbent Judy Baar Topinka in the Republican primary.[8]
| Illinois Comptroller, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Judy Baar Topinka Incumbent |
59.2% | 430,996 | ||
| William Kelly | 21.7% | 157,774 | ||
| Jim Dodge | 19.1% | 139,336 | ||
| Total Votes | 728,106 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections. | ||||
See also
| Illinois | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Youtube, "Kelly announces independent bid for Governor against Rauner," December 4, 2017
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Gubernatorial general election candidate list," accessed February 1, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Springfield Daily, "Illinois Constitution Party Selects William J. Kelly for Governor," March 16, 2018
- ↑ Facebook, "William J. Kelly for Illinois on March 20, 2018," accessed February 1, 2019
- ↑ The State Journal-Register, "Third parties seeking attention, ballot access in Illinois," March 25, 2018
- ↑ Kelly for Illinois, "About Bill," accessed February 4, 2018
- ↑ Piatt County Journal-Republican, "Rauner comments prompt Kelly to run for governor," March 30, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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