The 1992 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose 22 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Illinois was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 48.58% of the popular vote over incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 34.34%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 16.64% of the popular vote. In 1988, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis also received 48.6% of the vote, albeit in a losing effort to Bush, who received 50.7%.

Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating incumbent President Bush. Clinton became the first Democrat to win Illinois on a presidential level since 1964, and only the third to do so since 1948. Clinton notably won seven of 21 Illinois counties that had backed Barry Goldwater in 1964.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004; pp. 180-187 He remains the only Democrat to win Johnson County and Pope CountyClinton would win Pope County again in 1996 but lose Johnson County to Bob Dole. — Southern and anti-Yankee in culture but converted to Unionism by warWells, Damon; Stephen Douglas: The Last Years, 1857–1861, p. 285 — since Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States; p. 115 In Northern Illinois, Clinton became the first Democrat to ever win Whiteside County, which had voted in presidential elections since 1840, the first to win DeKalb County since Franklin Pierce in 1852, and the first to win Bureau, McDonough, and Warren Counties since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.

This represented a realigning election for Illinois in regards to presidential politics. It ended a streak of six consecutive elections in which the state had voted for the Republican ticket. It also began a streak in which the state has voted by double digits for the Democratic ticket in nine consecutive presidential elections.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is also the last election in which the following counties voted for a Democratic presidential candidate: Brown, Clark, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Jasper, Monroe, Richland, and Tazewell.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

Primaries The primaries and general elections coincided with those for other federal elections (Senate and House), as well as those for state offices.

Turnout For the state-run primaries (Democratic and Republican), turnout was 39.82%, with 2,335,270 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 76.51%, with 5,050,157 votes cast.

State-run primaries were held for the Democratic, Republican, parties on March 17.

Democratic

The 1992 Illinois Democratic presidential primary was held on March 17, 1992, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1992 presidential election.

1992 Illinois Democratic presidential primaryCandidateVotes%Delegates Bill Clinton 776,829 51.65 Paul E. Tsongas 387,891 25.79 Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. 220,346 14.65 Uncommitted 67,612 4.50 Tom Harkin 30,710 2.04 Bob Kerrey 10,916 0.73 Lyndon H. LaRouche 6,599 0.44 Lawrence A. Agran 3,227 0.22 Total1,504,130100

Republican

The 1992 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on March 17, 1992, in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 1992 presidential election.

Incumbent president George H. W. Bush won the primary by a large margin.

1992 Illinois Republican presidential primaryCandidateVotes%DelegatesGeorge Bush (incumbent) 634,588 76.35Patrick J. Buchanan 186,915 22.49Maurice Horton 9,637 1.16Total831,140100

Results 1992 United States presidential election in IllinoisPartyCandidateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Bill Clinton 2,453,350 48.58% 22 Republican George H. W. Bush (incumbent) 1,734,096 34.34% 0 Independent Ross Perot 840,515 16.64% 0 Libertarian Andre Marrou 9,218 0.18% 0 New Alliance Lenora Fulani 5,267 0.10% 0 America First James "Bo" Gritz 3,577 0.07% 0 Natural Law Dr. John Hagelin 2,751 0.05% 0 Socialist Workers Party James Warren 1,361 0.03% 0Write-ins 22 0.00% 0 Totals 5,050,157 100.0% 22

Results by county