The 2008 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin sought a third term in office and faced minimal opposition from Republican Steve Sauerberg. As expected, Durbin overwhelmingly won re-election. On the same night, fellow Democratic Senator Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, defeating Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona.
As of 2025, this is the last Senate election in Illinois in which a candidate received more than 60% of the vote.
Background The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (president and House), as well as those for state offices.
For the primary elections, turnout was 32.37%, with 2,364,409 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 68.42%, with 5,329,884 votes cast.
Democratic primary Candidates Dick Durbin, incumbent U.S. senator
Results
Republican primary Candidates Andy Martin, perennial candidate Mike Psak, trucker and perennial candidate Steve Sauerberg, physician
Results
General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report October 23, 2008 CQ PoliticsRace Ratings Chart: Senate CQ Politics October 31, 2008 Rothenberg Political Report November 2, 2008 Real Clear Politics November 4, 2008
Results Durbin's 3,615,844 votes is the highest vote total in a statewide election in Illinois. No one has broken his record; however, then-Vice President Joe Biden received the most votes in the presidential election in Illinois in 2020.
Durbin comfortably won re-election with the best margin of his career, winning all but four of the state's 102 counties.
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Ogle (largest city: Rochelle) Jo Daviess (largest city: Galena) Carroll (largest city: Savanna) Stephenson (largest city: Freeport) Boone (largest city: Belvidere) DuPage (largest city: Aurora) Kane (largest city: Aurora) Kendall (largest village: Oswego) McHenry (largest city: Crystal Lake) Putnam (largest city: Hennpin) Ford (largest city: Paxton) Iroqouis (largest city: Watseka) Livingston (largest city: Pontiac) Washington (largest city: Nashville) Monroe (largest city: Waterloo) Effingham (largest city: Effingham) Wabash (largest city: Mount Carmel) Richland (largest city: Olney) Lawrence (largest city: Lawrenceville) Crawford (largest city: Robinson) Clark (largest city: Marshall)
See also 2008 United States Senate elections
References
External links Illinois State Board of Elections U.S. Congress candidates for Illinois at Project Vote Smart Illinois, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics Illinois U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com Illinois U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker Campaign contributions for Illinois congressional races from OpenSecrets Official campaign websites (archived) Dick Durbin, Democratic incumbent nominee Steve Sauerberg, Republican nominee Larry Stafford, Libertarian nominee Kathy Cummings, Green Party nominee Chad Koppie, Constitution nominee