This November, when Illinoisans enter the voting booth, it may feel eerily similar to 2022, with Democratic incumbent JB Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey vying for Illinois’ top spot. There are a couple of third-party candidates who’ve made it onto the ballot, but they are polling far behind Pritzker and Bailey whose campaigns have raised millions of dollars.
Has a third party candidate ever had a chance to win a gubernatorial race in Illinois? Let’s look to the past to help us understand the future.
There’s only been one third party candidate who ever came close to winning the governor’s seat in Illinois, and that’s none other than McLean County’s own Frank H. Funk.
In 1912, Frank Funk ran as a progressive candidate for Illinois governor. He garnered 26% of the total vote, which remains the best showing of any third-party candidate in state history.
While it may be hard to imagine now, our political landscape wasn’t always so heavily dominated by Republicans and Democrats. In fact, 1912 saw a wide swath of third party candidates, including the Prohibition Party, and the Democratic Socialist Party. All were inspired by the biggest race in the country: the presidency.
Theodore Roosevelt was disappointed in William Howard Taft’s performance as president. So, he decided to run again, this time as a progressive candidate representing what would become known as the Bull Moose party. Roosevelt didn’t win the election, and the splitting of Republican votes secured a win for Woodrow Wilson. However, Roosevelt came away with 27% of the vote — the best showing from a presidential third-party candidate since the two-party system was established in 1864.
In October 1912, Roosevelt sent a telegram endorsing Funk for governor.
“Only by the election of Mr. Funk, can we secure progress and avoid retrogression” he wrote.
Funk’s campaign highlighted issues of corruption and vowed to focus on efficiency in government, which is something many people, regardless of political affiliation, rallied behind.
Despite this, and the former president’s endorsement, Funk and Charles Deneen split the Republican vote, and former mayor of Chicago and Democratic candidate Edward F. Dunne became Illinois’ 24th governor.
Fun fact about Gov. Dunne: He signed the Illinois Suffrage Act of 1913 which granted women in Illinois the right to vote. This came after nearly five decades of women’s suffrage movements in Illinois, and seven years before the 19th Amendment’s ratification in 1920, giving women across the country the right to vote.
Another fun fact? Florence Mae Risser Funk, Frank Funk’s wife, played a key role in the passage of the Illinois’ Suffrage Act. In 2021, we featured Florence in an episode of McHistory.
You can access this episode of McHistory, and over 100 others like it, at WGLT.org/McHistory.
To dive deeper into local lore, visit the McLean County Museum of History in Downtown Bloomington, or online at mchistory.org.