1976Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1976 election for Illinois Legislative District 51
Illinois State Senate · Illinois
James H. Rupp (R) won with 52.3% of the vote, defeating Robert W. McCarthy (D) by 4.6 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
James H. RuppRepublican · winner
52.3%42,460
Robert W. McCarthyDemocrat · incumbent
47.7%38,759
81,219 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 1976
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET