1984 Cook County, Illinois, elections

1984 Cook County, Illinois, elections

November 6, 1984
Turnout	78.76%

The Cook County, Illinois, general election was held on November 6, 1984.^[1]

Primaries were held March 20, 1984.^[2]

Elections were held for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, State's Attorney, 4 seats on the Water Reclamation District Board, and judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Election information

1984 was a presidential election year in the United States. The primaries and general elections for Cook County races coincided with those for federal races (President, Senate, and House) and those for state elections.

Voter turnout

Primary election

Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 46.94%^[2][3]

Chicago saw 58.55% turnout, and suburban Cook County saw 31.99% turnout.^[2][3]

Vote totals of primaries^[2]

Primary	Chicago vote totals	Suburban Cook County vote totals	Total Cook County vote totals
Democratic	878,243	257,169	1,135,412
Republican	35,966	126,181	162,147
Citizens	241	0	241
Nonpartisan	0	4,348	4,348
Total	914,450	387,698	1,302,148

General election

Turnout in the general election was 78.76%, with 2,262,103 ballots cast.^[4] Chicago saw 78.23% turnout (with 1,247,630 ballots cast), and suburban Cook County saw 79.42% turnout (with 1,014,473 ballots cast).^[1][5]

Straight-ticket voting

Ballots had a straight-ticket voting option in 1988.^[1]

Party	Number of straight-ticket votes[1]
Democratic	146,961
Republican	249,150
Citizens	75
Communist	128
Jesse Butler Progressive	199
Libertarian	883
Socialist Workers	134

Clerk of the Circuit Court

1984 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election

November 6, 1984
Turnout	71.55%[1][5]
Candidate Morgan M. Finley Deborah L. Murphy Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,260,257 794,882 Percentage 61.32% 38.68%
Clerk before election Morgan M. Finley Democratic Elected Clerk Morgan M. Finley Democratic

In the 1984 Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election, incumbent clerk Morgan M. Finley, a Democrat first appointed in 1974,^[6] was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Morgan M. Finley	691,037	100
Total votes			691,037	100

Republican

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Deborah L. Murphy	123,290	100
Total votes			123,290	100

General election

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Morgan M. Finley	1,260,257	61.32
	Republican	Deborah L. Murphy	794,882	38.68
Total votes			2,055,139	100

Recorder of Deeds

1984 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election

November 6, 1984
Turnout	70.41%[1][5]
Candidate Harry Yourell Paul M. Sengpiehl Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,232,485 789,906 Percentage 60.94% 39.06%
Recorder of Deeds before election Sid Olsen Democratic Elected Recorder of Deeds Harry Yourell Democratic

In the 1988 Cook County Recorder of Deeds election, incumbent second-term recorder of deeds Sid Olsen, a Democrat, did not seek reelection. Democrat Harry Yourell was elected to succeed him.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harry "Bus" Yourell	368,040	50.24
	Democratic	David W. Gleicher	364,457	49.76
Total votes			732,497	100

Republican

Cook County Recorder of Deeds Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul M. Sengpiehl	72,400	58.84
	Republican	William B. Shlifka	50,649	41.16
Total votes			123,049	100

General election

Cook County Recorder of Deeds election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harry "Bus" Yourell	1,232,485	60.94
	Republican	Paul M. Sengpiehl	789,906	39.06
Total votes			2,022,391	100

State's Attorney

1984 Cook County State's Attorney election

November 6, 1984
Turnout	74.87%[1][5]
Candidate Richard M. Daley Richard J. Brzeczek Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,418,775 731,634 Percentage 65.98% 34.02%
State's Attorney before election Richard M. Daley Democratic Elected State's Attorney Richard M. Daley Democratic

In the 1984 Cook County State's Attorney election, incumbent first-term state's attorney Richard M. Daley, a Democrat, was reelected.

Primaries

Democratic

Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard M. Daley (incumbent)	629,743	63.86
	Democratic	Lawrence S. Bloom	356,381	36.14
Total votes			986,124	100

Republican

Former superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Richard J. Brzeczek won the Republican primary, running unopposed.^[2][7]

Cook County State’s Attorney Republican primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard J. Brzeczek	135,852	100
Total votes			135,852	100

General election

Cook County State’s Attorney election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard M. Daley (incumbent)	1,418,775	65.98
	Republican	Richard J. Brzeczek	731,634	34.02
Total votes			2,150,409	100

Water Reclamation District Board

1984 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election

November 6, 1984
4 of 9 seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

In the 1988 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago election, four of the nine seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago board were up for election. Three were regularly scheduled elections, and one was a special election due to a vacancy.^[2][1]

Democrats won all four seats up for election.^[1]

Judicial elections

Pasrtisan elections were held for judgeships on the Circuit Court of Cook County due to vacancies.^[1] Retention elections were also held for the Circuit Court.^[1]

Other elections

Coinciding with the primaries, elections were held to elect the Democratic, Republican, and Citizens committeemen for the wards of Chicago.^[2]

See also

• 1984 Illinois elections

References

1. "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2008.
2. "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1984" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2008.
3. State of Illinois OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION MARCH 20, 1984. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Board of Elections. p. 163. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
4. "STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF). Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 18 October 2020.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. State of Illinois OFFICIAL VOTE Cast at the GENERAL ELECTION November 6, 1984. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Board of Elections. p. 88. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
6. Gibson, Ray (20 July 1986). "FINLEY STEERS PUBLIC INSURANCE BUSINESS TO FRIEND". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
7. Neal, Steve (17 September 1985). "EX-SUPT. O`GRADY MAY CHALLENGE ELROD". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 November 2020.