1888
Reading the 1888 result in Illinois
Illinois backed Harrison (Republican) in the 1888 presidential election, casting 22 electoral votes for the ticket. Illinois ended up on the winning side — Benjamin Harrison captured the White House that year.
It marked the 8th consecutive election in which Illinois backed the Republican party, a streak reaching back to 1860. The region divided — Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana joined Illinois for the Republican ticket, while Missouri and Kentucky did not. Across the 53 presidential elections Illinois has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (26 times). The vote fell within the Gilded Age — Industrialization, narrow margins, and patronage politics.
In the national count, Benjamin Harrison took 233 of the 401 electoral votes, against Grover Cleveland's 168. Though Benjamin Harrison won the Electoral College, Grover Cleveland drew more of the national popular vote — 48.63% to 47.8%.
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