1980Final results
1980 election for Illinois Legislative District 39
Illinois State Senate · Illinois
Forest D. Etheredge (R) won with 56.4% of the vote, defeating Ruth M. Kennedy (D) by 12.9 points.
Forest D. EtheredgeRepublican · winner
56.4%42,103
Ruth M. KennedyDemocrat
43.6%32,490
74,594 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 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET