- Source: 1936 Illinois gubernatorial elections
- 1936 Illinois gubernatorial elections
- Illinois gubernatorial elections
- 1936 Illinois elections
- 1994 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 2014 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 1976 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election
- 1990 Illinois gubernatorial election
Incumbent first-term governor Henry Horner, a Democrat, won reelection.
Democratic primary
The Chicago political machine unsuccessfully ran Chicago Board of Health president Herman Bundesen against the incumbent Henry Horner in retribution for Horner having vetoed a bill that would have allowed bookies to legally operate, a bill favored by Chicago political bosses such as Edward J. Kelly.
= Candidates
=Herman Bundesen, Chicago Board of Health president and Chicago health commissioner, former Cook County coroner
Henry Horner, incumbent governor
James Fred Robertson, 1934 U.S. congress candidate and 1935 Chicago mayoral candidate
= Results
=Republican primary
= Candidates
=C. Wayland Brooks
Oscar E. Carlstrom, former Illinois attorney general
George W. Dowell, Progressive nominee for Illinois's 25th congressional district in 1914
Thomas P. Gunning, Illinois state senator
J. Paul Kuhn
John G. Oglesby, former lieutenant governor of Illinois (publicly withdrew before primary)
Len Small, former governor of Illinois
= Results
=General election
Challenging both Democratic nominee Henry Horner and Republican nominee Charles W. Brooks, Republican former Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson ran on the Union Progressive Party of Illinois' ballot line. There were also several other minor candidates.