The 1966 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1966.[1] Incumbent Democratic United States Senator Paul Douglas, seeking a fourth term in the United States Senate, faced off against Republican Charles H. Percy, a businessman and the 1964 Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois. A competitive election ensued, featuring campaign appearances by former vice president Richard M. Nixon on behalf of Percy.[2] Ultimately, Percy ended up defeating Senator Douglas by a fairly wide margin, allowing him to win what would be the first of three terms in the Senate.
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Turnout | 71.56% | ||||||||||||||||
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County results Percy: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The primary (held on June 14) and general election coincided with those for House and state elections.[1]
Turnout in the primaries was 27.13%, with 1,509,302 votes cast.[1][3]
Turnout during the general election was 71.56%, with a total of 3,822,724 votes cast.[1][3]
Incumbent Paul Douglas was renominated, running unopposed.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Paul H. Douglas (incumbent) | 840,936 | 100 | |
Write-in | Others | 3 | 0.00 | |
Total votes | 840,939 | 100 |
Businessman Charles H. Percy won the Republican primary by a large margin.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Charles H. Percy | 605,815 | 90.64 | |
Republican | Howard J. Doyle | 38,636 | 5.78 | |
Republican | Lar "America First" Daly | 23,889 | 3.57 | |
Write-in | Others | 23 | 0.00 | |
Total votes | 668,363 | 100 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Charles H. Percy | 2,100,449 | 54.95% | +9.75% | |
Democratic | Paul H. Douglas (incumbent) | 1,678,147 | 43.90% | -10.73% | |
Write-in | Robert Sabonjian | 41,965 | 1.10% | ||
Write-in | Maxwell Primack | 1,693 | 0.04% | ||
Write-in | Others | 470 | 0.01% | ||
Majority | 422,302 | 11.05% | +1.61% | ||
Turnout | 3,822,724 | 71.56 | |||
Republican gain from Democratic | Swing |