Democratic primary

Richard J. Troy, a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago,^[5] won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican primary

Incumbent William J. Scott won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

Democratic primary

Incumbent Alan J. Dixon won the Democratic primary, running unopposed.

Republican primary

Elk Grove Township Clerk^[6] Sharon Sharp won the Republican primary, running unopposed.

General election

Democratic primary

With more than 64% of the vote, Roland Burris defeated State Representative Richard Luft in the Democratic primary.^[1][8]

Burris was a Chicago attorney that had formerly served as director of the Department of General Services under Governor Dan Walker.^[8] Luft had been the early favorite for the party to slate, but at the last minute was beaten out by Burris when the party finally slated candidates.^[8] It was reported that black Chicago Democrats had pressured the party to slate a black candidate for statewide office.^[8]

During the campaign, Burris and Luft argued over Burris' record as director of the Department of General Services.^[8]

Republican primary

With more than 52% of the vote, John W. Castle, director of the Department of Local Government Affairs, defeated W. Robert Blair, former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, in the Republican primary.^[1][8] Governor James R. Thompson, who had convinced Castle to abandon his declared plans to run for treasurer and instead run for comptroller, publicly endorsed Castle.^[8] Blair criticized Castle for this endorsement, alleging that he would not be able to operate the comptroller's office independently of the governor, while Castle denied that his decisions would be influenced by his political ties to Thompson.^[8]

General election

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, the party establishment had slated Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago commissioner Jerome Cosentino as its preferred candidate.^[8] He won the primary with 60% of the vote, defeating Nina T. Shepherd, a trustee of the University of Illinois.^[8] Shepherd received the endorsement of Independent Voter of Illinois in the primary.^[8] She ran largely due to the failure of the party of slate a woman for any statewide office.^[8] The primary was not overly heated.^[8] One issue that haunted Cosentino was that his trucking firm was under investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission for possible violations of the Interstate Commerce Act.^[8] While the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, it was not completed until after the primary was over.^[8]

Republican primary

James M. Skelton won a narrow 52% victory over Bradley M. Glass in the Republican primary.^[8] With Skelton being a downstate politician, and Glass being an upstate politician, the race had the dynamics of "downstate vs. upstate".^[8] John W. Castle had originally announced that he would run for the Republican nomination for Treasurer, before being convinced by Governor James R. Thompson to instead run for comptroller.^[8]

General election

Personal Property Tax Amendment

The Personal Property Tax Amendment (also known as "Amendment 1") was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Article IX, Section 5 of the Constitution of Illinois to eliminate the provision that required the legislature to abolish the personal property tax by January 1, 1979.^[11][12] It failed to meet either threshold to amend the constitution.^[11]

Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment

The Exempt Veterans' Organizations from Property Taxes Amendment (also known as "Property Tax Exemption for Veterans' Organizations Amendment" and "Amendment 2") was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment which would have amended Article IX, Section 6 of the Constitution of Illinois to exempt veterans' associations from paying property taxes on their meeting halls.^[11][13] It failed to meet either threshold to amend the constitution.^[11]