2002 Illinois gubernatorial election
November 5, 2002
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| Turnout | 50.05% 0.33 pp | |||||||||||||||||||
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County results Blagojevich: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Ryan: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Illinois |
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The 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election occurred on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican governor George Ryan, who was plagued by scandal, did not run for a second term. Democrat Rod Blagojevich, a U.S. Congressman, ran against Republican Jim Ryan (no relation to the incumbent), the Illinois Attorney General.
Blagojevich won 52% to 45%, snapping a losing streak of seven elections, and becoming the first Democrat to win an election for governor in 30 years, since 1972. As of 2026, this is the most recent Illinois governor election in which no candidate running was an incumbent.