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Turnout | 63.79% | ||||||||||||||||
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County results Durbin: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Salvi: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Illinois |
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The 1996 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Paul Simon chose to retire rather than seek a third term in office. In the Democratic primary, U.S. Representative Dick Durbin emerged victorious, while state representative Al Salvi won the Republican primary. Though the election was initially anticipated to be close, Durbin ended up defeating Salvi by a comfortable double-digit margin of victory, allowing him to win what would be the first of several terms in the Senate.