1996Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1996 election for Illinois's 20th District
U.S. House · Illinois
John Shimkus (R) won with 50.3% of the vote, defeating Jay Hoffman (D) by 0.5 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
John ShimkusRepublican · winner
50.3%120,926
Jay HoffmanDemocrat
49.7%119,688
240,618 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1996
Races before and after
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
Jay HoffmanJohn Shimkus
$815.3K
Raised by the campaign
$653.5K
$812.4K
Spent by the campaign
$647.8K
$2.9K
Cash on hand
$6.9K
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 1996.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 1996