I had forgotten about him. He won a special election in 1980 to replace the late Everett Dirksen. He wound up having to form the Illinois Solidarity Party when he ran for governor in 1986 after a couple of Larouchies won the Democrat nominations for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State. He limped across the finish line with about 40% of the vote against Big Jim Thompson.
Correction: a special election in 1970.
1982 Illinois Gov. close election...but some funny stuff.
Adlai declared “Thompson was treating him like “some kind of wimp.”
Jim Thompson never called Adlai a wimp...and he made that statement at every campaign stop.
Adlai then had to defend against that. If he didn’t then he really would have been a wimp.