1972Final results
1972 election for Illinois Legislative District 59
Illinois State Senate · Illinois
Gene Johns (D) won with 52.9% of the vote, defeating James E. Eatherly (R) by 5.8 points.
Gene JohnsDemocrat · winner · incumbent
52.9%47,472
James E. EatherlyRepublican
47.1%42,284
89,756 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1972
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET