Politics of Illinois

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Illinois is considered a blue state, one of the three largest states that consistently supports Democratic Party federal candidates alongside California and New York. [1] Following the 2018 elections, all six statewide elected offices are held by a Democrat. [1] There is a significant division between Democratic-leaning cities and college towns, and highly conservative rural regions, which continue to be dominated by Republicans, but are drowned out due to their relatively low population.

Contents

United States presidential election results for Illinois [2]
Year Republican  /  Whig Democratic Third party(ies)
No. %No. %No. %
2024 2,449,07943.33%3,062,86354.19%140,1612.48%
2020 2,446,89140.45%3,471,91557.39%130,6942.16%
2016 2,146,01538.35%3,090,72955.24%358,5356.41%
2012 2,135,21640.66%3,019,51257.50%96,7041.84%
2008 2,031,17936.73%3,419,34861.83%79,6521.44%
2004 2,345,94644.48%2,891,55054.82%36,8260.70%
2000 2,019,42142.58%2,589,02654.60%133,6762.82%
1996 1,587,02136.81%2,341,74454.32%382,6268.87%
1992 1,734,09634.34%2,453,35048.58%862,71117.08%
1988 2,310,93950.69%2,215,94048.60%32,2410.71%
1984 2,707,10356.17%2,086,49943.30%25,4860.53%
1980 2,358,04949.65%1,981,41341.72%410,2598.64%
1976 2,364,26950.10%2,271,29548.13%83,2691.76%
1972 2,788,17959.03%1,913,47240.51%21,5850.46%
1968 2,174,77447.08%2,039,81444.15%405,1618.77%
1964 1,905,94640.53%2,796,83359.47%620.00%
1960 2,368,98849.80%2,377,84649.98%10,5750.22%
1956 2,623,32759.52%1,775,68240.29%8,3980.19%
1952 2,457,32754.84%2,013,92044.94%9,8110.22%
1948 1,961,10349.22%1,994,71550.07%28,2280.71%
1944 1,939,31448.05%2,079,47951.52%17,2680.43%
1940 2,047,24048.54%2,149,93450.97%20,7610.49%
1936 1,570,39339.69%2,282,99957.70%103,1302.61%
1932 1,432,75642.04%1,882,30455.23%92,8662.73%
1928 1,769,14156.93%1,313,81742.28%24,5310.79%
1924 1,453,32158.84%576,97523.36%439,77117.80%
1920 1,420,48067.81%534,39525.51%139,8396.68%
1916 1,152,54952.56%950,22943.34%89,9294.10%
1912 253,59322.13%405,04835.34%487,53242.54%
1908 629,93254.53%450,81039.02%74,5126.45%
1904 632,64558.77%327,60630.43%116,24810.80%
1900 597,98552.83%503,06144.44%30,8512.73%
1896 607,13055.66%465,61342.68%18,1261.66%
1892 399,28845.70%426,28148.79%48,0785.50%
1888 370,47549.54%348,35146.58%28,9873.88%
1884 337,46950.17%312,35146.43%22,8503.40%
1880 318,03651.11%277,32144.56%26,9484.33%
1876 278,23250.20%258,61146.66%17,3843.14%
1872 241,93656.27%184,88443.00%3,1510.73%
1868 250,30455.69%199,11644.31%00.00%
1864 189,51254.42%158,72445.58%00.00%
1860 172,17150.69%160,21547.17%7,2802.14%
1856 96,27540.23%105,52844.09%37,53115.68%
1852 64,73341.77%80,37851.87%9,8636.36%
1848 52,85342.42%55,95244.91%15,79112.67%
1844 45,85442.05%58,79553.91%4,4084.04%
1840 45,57448.91%47,44150.92%1600.17%
1836 15,22045.31%18,36954.69%00.00%
1832 6,74531.40%14,60968.01%1270.59%
1828 4,66232.78%9,56067.22%00.00%
1824 1,51632.46%1,27227.23%1,88340.31%

Historically, Illinois was a critical swing state leaning marginally towards the Republican Party. [3] Between its admission into the Union and 1996, it voted for the losing candidate just six times - in 1824, 1840, 1848, 1884, 1916, and 1976. However, following Bill Clinton's election in 1992, and his victory in Illinois, the state has been realigned in favor of Democratic candidates for president, with eight consecutive wins by that party, regardless of the national outcome. In 2000, George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without the state.

Traditionally, Chicago, East Saint Louis, and the Quad Cities region have tended to vote heavily Democratic, along with the Central Illinois population centers of Peoria, Champaign-Urbana and Decatur. In recent years, Chicago's suburban collar counties continue to trend Democratic as well, contributing to the end of its swing state status, even as rural areas became even more heavily Republican. [4]

Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was elected as Illinois' Governor in 2002, the first Democrat elected since 1972. Blagojevich was re-elected in 2006, defeating Republican State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. However, in 2009, Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office due to charges that he abused his power while in office. Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn succeeded him. Following Quinn's election to a full term outright in 2010, the state elected in 2014 Bruce Rauner, the first Republican chief executive in twelve years. Following the 2018 elections, J. B. Pritzker became the state's current Democratic governor.

Statewide elected officials

OfficeOfficeholderPartyTook office
Governor J. B. Pritzker Democratic 2019
Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton Democratic2019
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias Democratic2023
Attorney General Kwame Raoul Democratic2019
Comptroller Susana Mendoza Democratic2016
Treasurer Mike Frerichs Democratic2015
U.S. Senator (Class II) Dick Durbin Democratic1997
U.S. Senator (Class III) Tammy Duckworth Democratic2017

Voter registration

As of October 2016, Illinois had nearly 8 million active, registered voters. [5]

Federal representation

Illinois currently has 17 House districts. In the 118th Congress, 14 of Illinois's seats are held by Democrats and 3 are held by Republicans:

Illinois's two United States senators are Democrats Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, serving since 1997 and 2017, respectively.

Illinois is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Chicago-based United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Illinois: The Most Democratic State". NBC Chicago.
  2. ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Presidential General Election Results Comparison - Illinois". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Last Time Illinois Was a Battleground State". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  4. ↑ "Dem's Downstate losses offset in Collar Counties" . Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Illinois has highest number of registered voters since 1970". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
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