2004Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
2004 election for U.S. Senate in Illinois
U.S. Senate · Illinois
Barack Obama (D) won with 70.0% of the vote, defeating Alan Keyes (R) by 42.9 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Barack ObamaDemocrat · winner
70.0%3,597,456
Alan KeyesRepublican
27.0%1,390,690
Albert J. FranzenIndependent
1.6%81,164
Jerry KohnLibertarian
1.3%69,253
5,141,520 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 2004
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.
Barack ObamaAlan Keyes
$15.1M
Raised by the campaign
$2.7M
$14.5M
Spent by the campaign
$2.5M
$788.2K
Cash on hand
$142.2K
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 2004.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 2004
The candidates
Barack Obama (D)Alan Keyes (R)
Also on the ballot: Albert J. Franzen (Independent), 1.6%; Jerry Kohn (Libertarian), 1.3%