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Judith Baar Topinka

Won 4 consecutive elections as governor from Illinois

Republican
GovernorState SenateState House
Electoral Grade
—
Requires 3+ graded races
5
Races
4-1
W-L (80%)
-28.7
Avg Margin
1980–2006
Career Span
Best: +10.5 (2006 Governor)Worst: -49.4 (1988 State Senate)
80%
Win Rate
+17.3
Avg Overperformance
4
Win Streak
26 yrs
Career Span
1.6M
Career Votes

Evidence & provenance

Source owners

Certified contest returns, candidate career records, and Akashic Edge deterministic grading inputs.

Freshness

Rendered Apr 14, 2026 from the latest candidate, contest, and forecast tables loaded in Akashic Edge.

Boundary scope

Candidate-level profile spanning every contest recorded for this person in Akashic Edge.

Claim type

Deterministic summaries, calculated grades, and certified election history. No freeform AI prose.

Source chain

MethodologyCertified contest returnsCandidate grade inputs
Open methodology

Career Margin Trend5 races

State House
State Senate
Governor
R+40R+20EvenD+20D+401980: R+22.3 - Click to view1982: R+33.7 - Click to view1984: R+48.8 - Click to view1988: R+49.4 - Click to view2006: D+10.5 - Click to view19801982198419882006

Career Timeline

2006 GovernorIllinois
1,369,315
Candidate Votes
39.3%
Vote %
3,487,989
Total Votes
+10.5%
Margin
Electoral Performance
+20.3
Race Score
+17.3
vs. State Pres.
D+27.8
State Pres.
vs. Incumbent (+3pt adj)
Top opponent: Rod R BlagojevichDEM

Key Insights

3 insights generated

Deterministic highlights from career record, margins, and standout performances.

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Geographic Performance

5 races with county data

County-level results, strongest and weakest counties, and performance by county type.

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County Results Table

Sortable, searchable table of every county result for each race.

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Demographic Coalition Analysis

5 races available

Scatter plots correlating county performance with demographics: race, education, income, foreign-born.

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Opponents Faced5 opponents

Rod R BlagojevichDEM
0-12006 Governor(+10.5)
Suzanne E OsterbuschDEM
1-01988 State Senate(-49.4)
Darlene A PerinaDEM
1-01984 State Senate(-48.8)
Thomas W GigerDEM
1-01982 State House(-33.7)
John S KociolkoREP
1-01980 State House(-22.3)
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