POST-ELECTION REPORT Presidenti al Primary Electi on Suburban Cook County March 20, 2012 Cook County Clerk David Orr COOK COUNTY CLERK DAVID ORR 69 W. Washington, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60602 TEL (312) 603-0996 FAX (312) 603-9788 WEB cookcountyclerk.com Dear Friends: Th e 2012 Presidential Primary was the fi rst presidential primary without a major Democratic contest since 1996, and the results demonstrate it. At 24 percent, overall turnout was dramatically down from 43 percent in the 2008 Presidential Primary, when there were seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. Th is year, the Democratic vote was down 61 percent from 447,173 to 173,752 ballots cast. But the Republican vote was more robust, up 12 percent from 136,593 to 152,854 votes with a ballot featuring six candidates running for their party’s presidential nomination. Despite the downturn in Democratic voters and uptick in Republican voters, overall ballots still tilted signifi cantly to Democrats, at 53 percent of all ballots cast. Nearly 1 percent of voters took nonpartisan ballots. We found some signifi cant economic trends, despite the low turnout. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney won every township in Cook County. A closer look at his results shows that his support was strongest in those townships with higher incomes, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Th ere were few close races for nominations in this primary. Four of the fi ve closest races were referendums, all of which were electricity aggregation referendums. Fifty-fi ve of the 66 electricity aggregation referendums on the ballot in Suburban Cook County won approval. Th e success of electricity referendums had an inverse relationship to income. Th at is, municipalities with higher incomes were more likely to pass a referendum which promised to save money on electric bills. Lower income communities were less likely to pass the referendum. Precinct by precinct results are at cookcountyclerk.com to examine in greater detail. For example, in the 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Jesse Jackson won 232 of the 263 precincts in suburban Cook County. Challenger Debbie Halvorson won 31, with more than half clustering in Bloom Township. By exploring the online results you can identify other trends. We have also enclosed a number of charts and maps illustrating the new General Assembly districts. I hope you fi nd them enlightening. As always, this report, full election results and many printable maps are available on our website www.cookcountyclerk.com. Sincerely, (Blank) Post-Election Report Presidential Primary Election March 20, 2012 Suburban Cook County Table of Contents Historical Turnout by Party 1 Presidential Primary Turnout 2 Romney Strongest in Most Affl uent Townships 3 Partisan Turnout by Township 4-5 Electricity Aggregation Earns Wide Support 6-7 Busiest and Slowest Precincts on Election Day 8 Referendums Make for Closest Contests 9 Pre-Election Day Voting 10 Suburban Cook County and City of Chicago Combined Summary Report Appendix (Blank) Historical Turnout by Party Suburban Cook County Democratic vs. Republican Ballots in Suburban Cook 1992-2012 500,000 475,000 450,000 425,000 400,000 375,000 350,000 325,000 300,000 275,000 250,000 225,000 200,000 175,000 150,000 125,000 100,000 75,000 50,000 25,000 0 Feb,2008 Feb, 2010 March,1992March,1994March,1996March,1998March,2000March,2002March,2004March,2006 March,2012 Primary Election Date • While the percentage of registered voters who turned out in the March 2012. Presidential Primary (24 percent) was the lowest since 2000 (23 percent), the number of ballots cast increased over the same period. • As the number of ballots cast rose, the number of registered voters also increased. • Th e years with the highest turnout all had contests for a U.S. Senate seat. (Below) Year* Total Ballots Cast Turnout as % of % Ballots % Ballots Senate Incumbent President? Registered Voters Democratic Republican Contest? 1992 476,517 40% 63% 35% Yes George H.W. Bush 1994 355,620 28% 60% 37% No N/A 1996 309,772 26% 47% 51% Yes Bill Clinton 1998 322,970 24% 56% 42% Yes N/A 2000 282,041 23% 53% 44% No Open Seat 2002 438,844 33% 64% 35% Yes N/A 2004 406,115 31% 69% 29% Yes George W. Bush 2006 345,970 25% 66% 33% No N/A 2008 585,449 43% 76% 23% Yes Open Seat 2010 367,688 26% 65% 35% Yes N/A 2012 329,537 24% 53% 46% No Barack Obama *Presidential years in bold text with green background. 1 Presidential Primary Turnout Suburban Cook County Year Ballots Cast Turnout of Registered Voters 1988 411,984 33% 1992 476,517 40% 1996 309,772 25% 2000 282,041 23% 2004 402,751 31% 2008 585,449 43% 2012 329,537 24% Turnout in Presidential Primaries 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2 Romney Strongest in the Most Affluent Townships Suburban Cook County, March 2012 Romney carried suburban Cook by 57 percent overall, beating all of his opponents in every township but winning by less than 50 percent of the vote in seven townships. He did substantially better in the four most affl uent townships –– New Trier, Northfi eld, Barrington and River Forest, than he did in the four least affl uent townships –– Thornton, Stickney, Cicero and Calumet. Townships Ranked by Percent for Romney & Median Family Income Median Family Rank by Income Township Romney's Percentage Income (U.S Census) New Trier 77% 183,000 1 Northfi eld 71% 120,000 4 Barrington 67% 137,000 3 River Forest 65% 156,000 2 Niles 62% 81,000 13 Evanston 61% 106,000 6 Lyons 59% 80,000 14 Wheeling 59% 85,000 11 Palatine 57% 93,000 9 Maine 57% 76,000 16 Orland 57% 95,000 8 Riverside 57% 92,000 10 Leyden 57% 63,000 24 Elk Grove 56% 71,000 19 Palos 56% 75,000 17 Proviso 55% 63,000 25 Lemont 55% 102,000 7 Rich 54% 74,000 18 Schaumburg 54% 82,000 12 Oak Park 53% 106,000 5 Bloom 51% 58,000 26 Norwood Park 51% 68,000 21 Worth 50% 70,000 20 Hanover 49% 78,000 15 Bremen 48% 66,000 22 Berwyn 48% 54,000 27 Calumet 48% 48,000 29 Stickney 46% 65,000 23 Cicero 45% 46,000 30 Th ornton 43% 52,000 28 Suburban Cook County 57% 3 Partisan Turnout by Township Suburban Cook County, March 2012 Ranked by ballots cast Township Registered Voters Ballots Cast* Republican % Democratic % Turnout Th ornton 104,166 23,320 13% 87% 22% Wheeling 85,060 22,408 65% 33% 26% Proviso 84,924 19,724 28% 71% 23% Worth 86,849 18,561 53% 46% 21% Lyons 60,758 16,529 52% 48% 27% Northfi eld 56,448 16,222 57% 42% 29% Maine 74,398 15,665 63% 36% 21% Orland 64,998 14,627 66% 33% 23% Schaumburg 68,430 14,524 56% 44% 21% Palatine 60,119 14,269 74% 26% 24% Rich 49,069 14,071 16% 83% 29% Evanston 44,387 13,954 21% 78% 31% Niles 62,218 13,830 44% 54% 22% Bremen 65,703 13,621 39% 59% 21% New Trier 39,146 12,418 58% 41% 32% Bloom 53,294 12,072 25% 74% 23% Oak Park 34,085 9,854 22% 78% 29% Elk Grove 44,167 9,815 65% 34% 22% Palos 32,534 8,671 63% 35% 27% Leyden 43,155 8,110 61% 38% 19% Hanover 43,283 7,875 59% 40% 18% Cicero 26,931 5,238 25% 75% 19% Berwyn 24,559 4,360 29% 71% 18% Stickney 18,927 3,596 37% 62% 19% Lemont 13,529 3,300 77% 23% 24% Norwood Park 14,979 3,013 55% 44% 20% Riverside 10,270 2,793 58% 41% 27% Barrington 10,120 2,791 80% 20% 28% Calumet 10,855 2,162 13% 87% 20% River Forest 7,288 2,144 45% 54% 29% Suburban Cook County 1,394,649 329,537* 46% 53% 24% *Includes non-partisan ballots, which comprised one percent of total ballots cast. 4 Partisan Turnout by Township Suburban Cook County, March 2012 Ranked by ballots cast (Continued) While there was much talk of an increase in Republican voters and a decrease in Democratic ballots in the March 2012 primary, Democrats still voted more than Republicans in suburban Cook County. Despite the lack of a Presidential primary contest, 53 percent of all ballots pulled were Democratic. Th e remaining 46 percent were Republican. • Two of the top three townships in terms of total ballots cast, Th ornton and Proviso, voted overwhelmingly Democratic. • Of thirty suburban Cook County townships, seventeen voted more Republican Party ballots than Democratic. • Republican ballots cast in 2012 jumped to 152,854 from 136,593 in 2008, a 12 percent increase. • Democratic ballots cast in 2012 fell to 173,752 from 447,173 in 2008, a 61 percent decrease. • Only one township, Evanston, where 31 percent of registered voters cast ballots, had a turnout of more than 30 percent of registered voters. 5 Electricity Aggregation Earns Wide Support In the March primary, communities across Cook County decided whether to act upon new state legislation allowing them to buy electricity collectively as a community, rather than as individuals. Aggregation was promoted as a cost-saving measure for these communities. Of the 66 municipalities who voted on this issue, 55 voted in favor of aggregation while 11 opposed the measure.