Illinois Issues Election Almanac
By PORTER McNEIL
QUESTION OF THE MONTH: How many votes has votegetter Alan J. Dixon gotten in his 14 Illinois general elections?*
U.S. Sen. Alan J. Dixon has won usually by a comfortable margin every election he has ever been in, starting with his first race for Belleville police magistrate in 1949. His only closely contested race was for state treasurer in 1970 when Republican Edmund J.Kucharski held him to a mere 2 percent margin. Dixon is also the only Illinois candidate ever to carry all of the state's 102 counties, including all 30 townships in suburban Cook County and all 50 wards in the city of Chicago. He did that in 1978 when he ran against Sharon Sharp for secretary of state. No wonder Democrats like Al the Pal at the head of their ticket. In 1986 he is pitted against state Rep. Judy Koehler (R-89, Henry) for his second term as U.S. senator. Will Koehler, a populist conservative, end up like so many others as an also-ran on Dixon's win list? Or are we in for another surprise in an election year which has already seen plenty?
Dixon's win list
1980 U.S. Senate Dixon 2,565,302 (57%) David C. O'Neal 1,946,296 (43%)
1978 Secretary of State Dixon 2,314,546 (74%) Sharon Sharp 797,560 (26%)
1976 Secretary of State Dixon 2,906,311 (65%) William C. Harris 1,562,028 (35%)
1974 Treasurer Dixon 1,796,144 (65%) Harry Page 953,928 (35%)
1970 Treasurer Dixon 1,772,209 (51%) Edmund J. Kucharski 1,683,437 (49%)
1966 State Senate (54th District) Dixon 31,595 (67%) Scott R. Randolph 15,606 (33%)
1962 State Senate (49th District) Dixon 53,737 (64%) John J. Hoban 29,807 (36%)
(Under cumulative voting for House seats the top three candidates won, and voters had three votes which could be cast for one candidate or divided among two or three candidates.) 1960 Illinois House (54th District) Dixon 100,189.5 Frank L. Holten (D) 88,667.5 Otis L. Miller, Jr. (R) 59,331.5 Joseph D. Rountree (R) 44,652.5
1958 Illinois House (54th District) Dixon 68,247 Holten 60,239.5 Otis L. Miller, Sr. 34,067.5 Leon E. Davis 30,342
1956 Illinois House (54th District) Dixon 82,402.5 Holten 76,646.5 Miller, Sr. 56,550 Joseph D. Rountree 51,604.5
1954 Illinois House (49th District) Dixon 68,441 Holten 59,827.5 Miller, Sr. 44,418.5 Billy Jones 34,339
1952 Illinois House (49th District) Dixon 88,678 Holten 80,313.5 Miller, Sr. 56,842.5 Warren "Sam" Plant 49,259
1950 Illinois House (49th District) Holten 57,249 Dixon 54,437.5 Miller, Sr. 49,769 Billy Jones 38,454.5
1949 Belleville Police Magistrate Dixon 6,510 Fred C. Rensing 3,897 Joseph H. Koch 1,881
*ANSWER: 11,908,749.5 votes including the 1949 magistrate race.
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