1978Final results
1978 election for Illinois Governor
Governor · Illinois
James R. Thompson (R) won with 59.6% of the vote, defeating Michael Bakalis (D) by 19.1 points.
James R. ThompsonRepublican · winner
59.6%1,859,684
Michael BakalisDemocrat
40.4%1,263,134
3,122,818 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET