Illinois Attorney General election, 2014

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Illinois Attorney General Election

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General Election Date
November 4, 2014

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Primary Date:
March 18, 2014

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November 4 Election Winner:
Lisa Madigan
Incumbent prior to election:
Lisa Madigan

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Illinois State Executive Elections Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General
Down Ballot
Treasurer, Controller

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## Contents

* 1 Candidates
* 1.1 General election
* 1.2 Failed to qualify
* 2 Results
* 2.1 General election
* 3 Campaign themes
* 3.1 Ben Koyl
* 3.2 Lisa Madigan
* 3.3 Paul Schimpf
* 4 Polls
* 5 Past elections
* 5.1 2010
* 5.2 2006
* 5.3 2002
* 6 Campaign finance
* 7 Key deadlines
* 8 Recent news
* 9 See also
* 10 External links
* 11 Footnotes

The Illinois Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Lisa Madigan (D) was first elected in 2002 and was running for re-election. She faced Republican candidate Paul Schimpf and Libertarian Party candidate Ben Koyl in the general election. Madigan won election to another four-year term.

Madigan expanded her margin of victory over the previous three elections, as detailed in the past elections section. She won by 3 percent when she was elected in 2002 and won by more than 30 percentage points in the 2006 and 2010 elections. Learn more about where all three candidates stood on the issues in the campaign themes section.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Illinois, state law provides for a closed primary where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters state their affiliation at the polls and any voter may change their affiliation on the day of the primary. A voter's eligibility to vote a party's ballot may be challenged.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

## Candidates[edit]

### General election[edit]

Lisa Madigan \- Incumbent [2]
Paul Schimpf \- Attorney, Retired U.S. Marine Corps Officer[3]
Ben Koyl[4]

### Failed to qualify[edit]

David Black \- Lawyer[5]
Joe Bell \- Attorney, 2010 nominee[6]

## Results[edit]

### General election[edit]

Attorney General of Illinois, 2014

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes
| Democratic  | Lisa Madigan Incumbent | 59.5% | 2,142,558
| Republican  |  Paul Schimpf | 37.8% | 1,360,763
| Libertarian  |  Ben Koyl | 2.8% | 99,903
Total Votes | 3,603,224
Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections

## Campaign themes[edit]

All three candidates made public statements detailing their positions on issues facing Illinois voters. The following sections quote these statements verbatim from candidate websites.

### Ben Koyl[edit]

“  |

My four main platform points are the following:

* Fight Corruption, Fraud, and Government Waste at the Local, County and State level;
* Save Taxpayer Money by Streamlining Office Personnel and Technology;
* Ballot Access for All Political Parties and Equal Access to Government for All.
* Using the Freedom of Information Act to Hold Non-Profit Companies who Receive Taxpayer Subsidies Accountable.

Most Importantly, I Will Faithfully Carry Out the Duties of the Illinois Attorney General as Promulgated by the Illinois Attorney General Act.

The Democrats and Republicans have had their opportunity to competently manage our government and have failed. If you are sick of the political corruption, cronyism, and waste of YOUR tax money then your vote is clear. Ben Koyl is the only candidate that will not tolerate it! [7]

| ”

|
|

—Ben Koyl's campaign website, (2014)

[8]

### Lisa Madigan[edit]

“  |

Protecting Consumers
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is the State’s chief consumer advocate, and she works tirelessly to protect Illinois consumers. She has fought fraud by cell phone companies, lowered electric utility rates, insisted that unsafe products be removed from store shelves, passed a new law that will help end the abusive practices of debt settlement operators who take advantage of people in financial distress and created an identity theft helpline.

Helping Illinois Homeowners
Attorney General Lisa Madigan fights for homeowners facing foreclosure. She created a Homeowner Helpline and sued Countrywide Home Loans, winning an $8.7 billion settlement that required the mortgage giant, not taxpayers, to renegotiate their risky, predatory loans and a record-breaking $335 million settlement over claims of discriminatory lending practices.

Fighting for Taxpayers
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is passionate about protecting taxpayers from fraud and abuse. She aggressively pursues cases of fraud and generated over $1 billion in revenue for the State in the last year alone. The Attorney General’s office is getting real results for Illinoisans with fewer taxpayer dollars than it had in 1998.

Battling Public Corruption and Unethical Conduct
As Attorney General, Lisa Madigan is working hard to restore honesty and integrity to Illinois government. She prosecutes corruption regardless of Party affiliation. That’s why she launched a State investigation into former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s “pay-to-play” schemes. She also passed new “sunshine” laws that make it easier for citizens to hold their government officials accountable.

Stopping Violence Against Women and Children
Attorney General Lisa Madigan has fought to protect women and children from domestic violence and sexual assault. She led efforts to track down and arrest sex offenders, reduced the number of unserved orders of protection and initiated a new law that makes Illinois the first State in the country to require that every rape kit be submitted for DNA testing.

Keeping Kids Safe
As the mother of two small daughters, Attorney General Lisa Madigan is personally committed to protecting all Illinois children. She mandated the lifetime supervision of serious sex offenders and leads the State’s task force on internet crimes against children, which tracks down and arrests online predators and child pornographers.

Protecting Seniors
Attorney General Lisa Madigan works hard to keep seniors safe. She educates seniors about protecting themselves from scams and launched “Operation Guardian,” a joint effort with law enforcement and health regulators, to conduct unannounced checks on nursing homes for health and safety violations and to remove residents with outstanding arrest warrants.

Ensuring Equal Protection Under the Law
Attorney General Lisa Madigan has taken decisive action to end discrimination based upon race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion and disability and fights to make sure that veterans and their families receive the services and benefits they have earned.

Cleaning Up the Environment
As Attorney General, Lisa Madigan fights zealously to enforce the State’s environmental laws. She took on Crestwood officials who lied about providing residents with tainted drinking water and sued Exelon for contaminating drinking water near their Braidwood nuclear power plant.

Making Healthcare More Affordable and Accessible
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is fully committed to ensuring that all Illinoisans have access to affordable, quality healthcare. She fought hard for a new law that stops hospitals from gouging the uninsured and lowered the cost of prescription drugs by suing drug makers for fraudulently inflating their wholesale prices. [7]

| ”

|
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—Lisa Madigan's campaign website, (2014)

[9]

### Paul Schimpf[edit]

“  |

As your Attorney General I will focus on three areas.

First, I will focus protecting individual freedoms such religious conscience rights, Second Amendment guarantees, and ensuring that Illinois meets its legal pension obligations.

Second, I will prioritize anti-corruption efforts. Only a true political outsider can effectively fight corruption in our state. Our current Attorney General has an inherent conflict of interest, in that her father is the most powerful Democrat in the state.

Lastly, I plan on transforming the Attorney General's office into a watchdog for limiting the size and scope of state government. Our bloated government is strangling the growth of small businesses within Illinois. If we are ever going to solve our budget crisis, we must scale back government regulation to spur economic growth in Illinois.

The Attorney General does not make public policy for our state. Although I do not intend to set policy in the areas below, you are entitled to know my core beliefs. The following information will help you get a better idea of who I am.

Pensions. I support and understand the need for pension reform, but any reform must be prospective in nature and comply with the Illinois Constitution. Illinois must fulfill its contractual pension obligations. I will fight to ensure that any solution to the pension crisis requires the government of Illinois to keep its promises and comply with the Illinois Constitution.

Life. I am proud to call myself Pro-Life. I want to change our culture so that we value unborn children in the same manner that we protect newborn infants. As a means of reaching this point, I support common-sense measures that will increase our state's respect for life from fetal viability to natural death.

Second Amendment Rights. I do not believe we should create additional restrictions on the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans. Existing gun control laws should be enforced. I support concealed carry, but believe it should not be allowed in establishments that serve alcohol.

Marriage. I strongly support civil unions, but I believe we made a mistake by redefining marriage away from one man and one woman. I am deeply troubled by the eagerness of some in our society to label supporters of traditional marriage as bigots. I will fight to protect the ability of all Illinois citizens to live and work in Illinois in accordance with their consciences and religious teachings.

Immigration. We are a nation of immigrants. I support an equitable pathway to citizenship for anyone who is "yearning to be free" and desires to assimilate in our society. This includes undocumented workers who are already in our country. These undocumented workers, however, must not receive priority over those who are following our immigration laws.

Environment. I believe our nation's energy challenges require an "all of the above" solution. I support clean coal production. I believe that climate change is real and an appropriate subject for government action. Climate change solutions, however, must acknowledge economic realities and make a positive contribution to climate change adaptation. I oppose "Cap and Trade" and President Obama's EPA regulations because they do not accomplish anything beyond hurting our economy.

Obamacare. Our country will not regain its economic vitality until Obamacare is repealed. Obamacare, as implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services, Internal Revenue Service, and Department of Labor, represents a threat to the rights of Illinois citizens and I will vigorously scrutinize its legality as we move forward.

Common Core. I do not support Common Core. Control of education policy should occur at the local level.

Term Limits. I support term limits and will vote "yes" on a constitutional amendment establishing them. I believe the Republican Party should institute an "Up or Out" policy that would establish term-limits for Republican office holders, irrespective of efforts to amend the Illinois Constitution. [7]

| ”

|
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—Paul Schimpf's campaign website, (2014)

[10]

## Polls[edit]

Attorney General of Illinois - General election

Poll | Lisa Madigan * (D) | Paul Schimpf (R)| Ben Koyl (L)| Undecided| Margin of error| Sample size
Reboot Illinois
(October 6, 2014)
| 56.24%| 31.1%| 4.74%| 7.91%| +/-3| 1,096
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent status.

## Past elections[edit]

### 2010[edit]

2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[11]

Party  | Candidate  | Vote Percentage
| Democratic Party | a Lisa Madigan | 64.7%
| Republican Party | Stephen H. Kim | 31.6%
| Green Party | David Black  | 2.2%
| Libertarian Party | William Malan  | 1.5%
Total Votes  | 3,704,686

### 2006[edit]

2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election[12]

Party  | Candidate  | Vote Percentage
| Democratic Party | a Lisa Madigan | 72.4%
| Republican Party | Stewart Umholtz  | 24.3%
| Green Party | David Black  | 3.3%
Total Votes  | 3,479,812

### 2002[edit]

2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election[13]

Party  | Candidate  | Vote Percentage
| Democratic Party | a Lisa Madigan | 50.4%
| Republican Party | Joe Birkett  | 47.1%
| Libertarian Party | Gary L. Shilts  | 2.5%
Total Votes  | 3,498,901

## Campaign finance[edit]

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $4,201,691 during the election. This information was last updated on May 13, 2015.[14]

Campaign Contribution Totals

Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions
Lisa Madigan | Illinois Attorney General |  | $4,008,749
Paul Schimpf | Illinois Attorney General |  | $191,598
Ben Koyl | Illinois Attorney General |  | $1,344
Grand Total Raised | $4,201,691

## Key deadlines[edit]

Deadline  | Event

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December 2, 2013 | Last day of petition filing for established political parties
January 16, 2014 | Last day to file a Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate
March 18, 2014 | Primary election
November 4, 2014 | General election
November 25, 2014 | Last day for canvassing election results by proper canvassing board
January 12, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials in general election

## Recent news[edit]

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Illinois + Attorney + General + Election + 2014"

Illinois attorney general election, 2014 News Feed

## See also[edit]

* Illinois Attorney General
* Illinois state executive official elections, 2014
* State executive official elections, 2014

## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Office of the Attorney General of Illinois

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 10, § 5/7–44," accessed December 4, 2025
2. ↑ Capitol Fax, "This just in… Lisa Madigan announces re-election bid," July 15, 2013
3. ↑ Paul Schimpf for Attorney General 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed October 15, 2013
4. ↑ Libertarian Party of Illinois, "Campaigns: Our Statewide Candidates," accessed March 31, 2014
5. ↑ Illinois Green Party, "Meet David Black, candidate for Attorney General," accessed March 17, 2014
6. ↑ Independent Political Report, "Constitution Party of Illinois nominates statewide candidates," March 24, 2014
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
8. ↑ Koyl for Illinois Attorney Generla, "Candidate Platform," accessed October 27, 2014
9. ↑ Citizens for Lisa Madigan, "Issues," accessed October 27, 2014
10. ↑ Schimpf for Illinois, "Issues," accessed October 27, 2014
11. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2010 General Election Results
12. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2006 General Election Results
13. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections - 2002 General Election Results
14. ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of Illinois 2014 elections," accessed May 13, 2015

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