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DuPage County, once known as one of the most solidly Republican areas in the country, appears to have given Democrats control of the County Board for the first time since the 1930s. Two more Democrats are leading their races for countywide office, and could be joined by another when the final votes are tallied.

DuPage voters also backed Democrats in every federal race from president to U.S. representative, as well as every state senator and nine of 13 state representatives.

It’s a stunning turn of fortune two decades in the making, observers say, the result of shifting demographics, shrewd campaigning and the divisive reign of President Donald Trump.

“He doesn’t do well with suburban women and I think that hurts us,” said Jim Zay, a County Board member and chairman of DuPage County Republicans. “It’s time to rebrand and regroup and come back in two years.”

George W. Bush also didn’t do well with suburban women. They have been a major key to winning statewide since 1990, when Jim Edgar specifically targeted them with a pro-choice message (as well as the property tax issue).

Also, the governor’s “Fair Tax” is losing DuPage by close to 15 points.

* Daily Herald…

A ballot count update late Saturday by the Lake County clerk’s office has shaken up two key county races and, if the gains hold, could further increase Democratic control of county leadership.

The changes include Republican incumbent State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim falling behind Democratic challenger Eric Rinehart. Nerheim held a 4,832-vote lead when the clerk posted results Wednesday, but now Rinehart is ahead with 135,238 votes to the incumbent’s 134,209, according to the clerk’s website. […]

The other race to flip after the update is the contest to represent District 12 on the Lake County Board. After Wednesday, Republican incumbent Mike Rummel of Lake Forest led Democrat Paras Parekh by 239 votes, but the update put the challenger ahead with 8,679 votes to Rummel’s 8,223 votes.

Rinehart’s lead is now 4,359 after Sunday’s update. Parehkh is now up by 576.

And despite those Democratic gains, the “Fair Tax” is losing by 10 points.

* Daily Herald…

Republican David Rickert conceded victory Friday to Democrat Corinne Pierog in the race for Kane County Board chairman.

“Although not mathematically eliminated, it’s time to call this race. Congratulations to Ms. Pierog the next county chairman,” Rickert wrote on his Facebook page.

And the Fair Tax is losing that county by 12+ points.

* Meanwhile, in our state’s “other” suburban region…

In recent years, Republicans have enjoyed increased success in Madison County elections, and the trend continued on Tuesday with Republicans winning four of five countywide offices.

Incumbents also fared well overall, but there was a local State Representative race where a Democrat could not overcome the Republican surge.

In the 111th District, incumbent Democrat Monica Bristow was defeated by Republican challenger Amy Elik.

Elik had 26,521 votes for 54.5 percent, while Bristow had 22,141 votes for 45.5 percent.

* Chicago Crusader…

Businessman Willie Wilson, once a rising star in the Black community, lost all 18 Black wards in a crushing defeat to Senator Dick Durbin in Tuesday’s General Election, according to the Crusader analysis of results released from the Chicago Board of Elections. […]

Wilson’s bid for the U.S. ended in a stunning defeat in his bid to unseat Durbin, who won all 18 Black wards. Election data show that Wilson finished second to Durbin in all 18 Black wards but ahead of Republican candidate Mark Curran, Jr.

Overall, Durbin received a total of 243,193 votes from the Black wards, or 75.94 percent of the Black vote. Durbin received 70 percent of the vote in 16 Black wards and won over 80 percent of the vote in the 4th and 5th wards, election data show.

There were 16 Black wards where Wilson received less than 20 percent of the vote.

Statewide, Wilson is so far receiving 4 percent, which is below the 5 percent threshold to make his Willie Wilson Party an established political party under state law.

* The number of Chicago-area white people who insisted to me that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx would lose reelection baffled me…

Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns for the national progressive group Color Of Change, said Foxx’s 2016 election was the start of a national wave of more reform-minded prosecutors being elected. He said Foxx handily winning reelection could have an even bigger effect nationwide.

Color Of Change works to elect so-called progressive prosecutors nationally and supported Foxx.

“We were watching closely to make sure that she was able to bring it home … and really serve as an example to prosecutors around the country,” Roberts said. “That we can even survive vicious attacks by everyone from the Department of Justice to local police unions. And even in the face of, frankly, heightened violence in Chicago this summer, that people will still choose a reform agenda, that this agenda is popular, that it’s a winner. And we’re hoping that that will, you know, stiffen the backbone of these prosecutors around the country.”

Roberts said the opposition Foxx faced in Cook County followed a “playbook” they’ve seen throughout the country against prosecutors who support criminal justice reform. He said the opposition has been “particularly pronounced against Black women.”

She is trailing in the suburbs by almost six points, although plenty of ballots remain to be counted. Same with the city.

* Not a lot happened in Edgar County…

The only contested race in Edgar County was for County Board 7th District. Incumbent John Chittick, an independent, lost re-election to Republican challenger Russell Lawton. Lawton polled 503 votes to Chittick’s 377.

The rest of the local election was decided before the first ballot was cast, since the other candidates in Edgar County were unopposed for re-election.

* Southern Illinoisan…

Paul Simon Public Policy Institute visiting professor John Jackson has been in Southern Illinois for 50 years, and said he has seen the slow erosion of the Democratic Party’s control in the region. He said he saw similar changes happening here as in his native Arkansas.

“We lagged probably a decade behind the changes in the South that took it from the solid Democratic South to the almost solid Republican South,” he said. He pointed to the weakening of unions in Southern Illinois for some of the hurt the Democrats have felt — he said in some races this year, the party couldn’t even get a candidate to run for some seats. He said Republicans have done a good job of siphoning off the traditional “blue dog” Democrats.

“What the Republicans have done is successfully split those off and persuaded the union members that cultural things … took precedent,” Jackson said. He said these “highly symbolic” items, like LGBTQ rights and other social issues have been used to sway middle-leaning voters to the right. But, he said, these issues likely don’t have any day-to-day impact on most voters.

What notable stuff happened by you?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:02 am

Comments

I’m happy to be living in DuPage County and experiencing the changing of the guard. The Trib is a little late to take notice of the trend, but it’s real. In fact, GOP is having trouble fielding candidates against Dem candidates.

Comment by DuPage Dave Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:06 am
Jack Franks lost, easily, and took Sager down with him.

Since then I’ve moved back to Kane County, where I see my work is cut out for me

Comment by Fav Human Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:12 am
Tom Morrison winning easily was the big news. That was a shock. Democrats put a lot of money into that one but still lost big.

Comment by Crash Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:17 am
I was certain Foxx would win, but she was the one candidate I heard a lot of people otherwise voting straight-ticket Dems were hesitant about. But, come on, if you’re a straight-ticket Dem voter, are you really going to vote for a white guy promising a harsh crackdown on urban neighborhoods after this past summer?

As a lawyer I have some specific complaints about how Foxx has run her office, but I’m obviously not voting for a guy running on “black people are scary violent criminals, we should imprison more of them.” The campaign O’Brien ran was gross and alienating and full of racist dogwhistles.

Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:26 am
===Democrats put a lot of money into that one===

Money was almost even there.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:28 am
@Crash

The Dems had a candidate that did not like talking to people. Morrison got caught flatfooted last year. He learned from his mistakes and ran a robust campaign.

Comment by Nagidam Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:35 am
The Red Wave here.

7th Judicial Circuit Judge sitting in Greene County will be a Republican for the first time in 3 decades. Democrat James W. Day is retiring in December. His seat was won by current IL Farm Bureau lobbyist and Republican Zach Schmidt.

In Cass County, two-term incumbent Democrat John Alvarez lost handily to Republican and current Assistant Morgan County State’s Attorney Craig Miller.

Any ground Democrats thought they might gain with some moderate Republicans voting Biden was seemingly unseen at the polls and down ballot.

Comment by WLDS News Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:38 am
I’m in west-central IL and it was disappointing to me that Judge Emily Sutton lost her re-election for Circuit Judge in the 9th Judicial Circuit. Sutton had a lot of visible support in the region, and in the judicial evaluations from the IL State Bar Assoc. she had a much better rating than Doyle did (last page of this: https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/judicialevaluations/2020general/9circuit.pdf).

Sutton lost by 18 points. Unfortunately it seems like in this area, having an R next to your name automatically gets you ~20 points in most elections (my county went for Trump by 17 points).

Comment by Scott Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:42 am
Sangamon County is becoming a little more competitive, although still mostly Republican. The Democrats picked up 2 seats on the County Board. Trump won by only 4,500 votes, half of his 2016 margin. Durbin lost by about 3,500 votes but that was less of a defeat than in 2014.

With the state government presence, I thought the progressive tax would do better but it went down hard 37-63%.

Comment by Oldtimer Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:43 am
There will need to be a bigger dissection, but with Fair Tax, the proponents never got much beyond “it won’t hurt you” as a reason to vote yes. There wasn’t any discussion of the state’s habitual revenue shortfalls or structural problems. A lost opportunity, to be sure.

Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:58 am
- WLDS News -

The Red Wave of GA seats… they, maybe after the votes are counted, held serve.

Congress? Everyone held serve.

In the overall, dunno if holding serve being, continuing in super minority status… tough to think it’s all sunshine and lollipops.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:00 pm
Nadigdam,

Interesting observation. I had a similar thought. Tons of mail, but I think she did one Zoom conference and as far as I could tell, that was it. No real outreach.

I know it is tougher with Covid to knock on doors, but I would expect that to be replaced with phone calls.

Rich, thanks for the update on the cash. I had not seen the totals. What I saw was a lot of mail from Maggie, barely anything from Tom, and then Tom spent a lot of time on Facebook complaining about his lack of funding. It is wild to know that the numbers were close. Thanks.

Comment by Crash Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:01 pm
Many who voted against Kim Foxx for CCSA are distressed by rising levels of crime in the city of Chicago.
Looting, shooting, robberies and carjackings are rampant in parts of the city. Michigan Avenue stores are boarded up.
Riding the Red Line is not an option unless one is prepared for assault, battery or worse.
Bullets are flying everywhere and there are no consequences.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:01 pm
==* The number of Chicago-area white people who insisted to me that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx would lose reelection baffled me…==

Justifying their own votes for a Trumper.

Will be curious to see if Dan Patlak’s lead for Cook County Board of Review holds on. Looks like it will, the Cook Clerk is a disaster.

Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:03 pm
==- Rudy’s teeth - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:01 pm:==

Spoken like someone who’s never taken the Red Line.

Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:05 pm
2014, Madigan’s Millionaire Tax:

DuPage: 55-45
Lake 56-44
Madison 61-39
Will 60-40
Cook 73-27
Peoria 59-41

Criticize Madigan all day long for his image problems, but the guy has a prophetic understanding of working class voters.

Comment by Thomas Paine Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:20 pm
Board the Red Line at Clark/Division to State/Lake. Also, use the station at Polk Street to walk to the Jazz Showcase.
Orange Line to Midway; Blue Line to ORD. Board the Brown Line at Sedgwick to Irving Park.
It’s the city.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:32 pm
Incumbent Champaign circuit clerk Blakeman lost a close one in a backlash against Repubs. Although I typically vote more Dem, that loss is a loss for the county. Blakeman was doing great work to make more services available online, and hold fine amnesty and expungement workshops to help folks in the court system. She was young and energetic, positive and progressive. A rare but welcome feat for Repubs.

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:42 pm
Tom Morrison visited my neighborhood several times
year. He out performed Maggey Trevor with door visited and constant mailers beginning in September. Morrison out hustled Maggey Trevor.

Comment by Big Mike Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:46 pm
Breathing a big sigh of relief that Cheri Bustos apparently has held onto her Congressional seat.

Comment by Bourbon Street Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:52 pm
In IL-06, I think Sean Casten will have his toughest race in 2022. If the Republicans can nominate a fiscal conservative with moderate values on social issues, they could win. Casten had Trump hanging over both the 2018 and 2020 elections to be the boogeyman. He won’t have that in two years. For all of the shift in DuPage in social values, I think most voters here are still traditional fiscal conservatives (as evidenced by the Fair Tax vote) who just couldn’t stomach Trump.

Comment by Nathan Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 1:25 pm
There’s no doubt a healthy majority of Cook County voters support criminal justice reform, but I don’t know how high I’d raise a champagne glass if I were Kim Foxx. She’s running about 300,000 votes behind Iris Martinez’s total in the only other countywide contest and she’s the only Dem SA candidate to lose the suburbs since Jack O’Malley held the office a generation ago. That underperformance is nothing to celebrate. Time should heal the Jussie Smollett wounds, but she’s got some work to do.

Comment by Roman Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 1:59 pm
===That underperformance is nothing to celebrate===

Four more years no matter how you slice it.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 2:11 pm
== Four more years… ==

Agreed, but she could use a quiet four years. The tough thing about being the Cook SA is that the heater cases keep finding you. We’ll see if her political and prosecutorial judgment improves after the Smollett case. It will have to or she’ll be in another contested race. Then again, if you’re on the countywide ballot in Cook with the word “Democrat” next to your name, particularly in a presidential year, you almost have to be under indictment to lose.

Comment by Roman Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 2:40 pm
well, I have taken the Red Line lately and it’s become scary. that said, I did not want Foxx to lose even though she’s done a terrible job and faces an ARDC hearing. O’Brien has some questionable pals and he would go back to a squad in the office that we just don’t need around any longer, that said, Foxx was a huge drag on Democrats in the burbs. the reason why these so called progressive prosecutors are winning is mainly a race equation. she needs to get more professional this next term. interesting facts Roman pointed out, how far behind she ran against the only other countywide contest.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 2:42 pm
Seeing the once-Blue Madison County continue its shift far to the GOP was very distressing. The main factors for that are the backlash to Gov. Pritzker’s COVID restrictions and the continued presence of Madigan as Speaker.

Comment by Justin Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 3:01 pm
I live in suburban Cook and I voted for Kim Foxx. I am still in favor of her justice reform system. Non-cash bail, not prosecuting minor cases of theft (her office doesn’t have infinite prosecutors nor infinite money) , not maximizing charges. Sure, the Smollett case gave her a bad look, but to be honest, that’s the only one I can remember. And was he worth charging? He lost his job, wrecked his future etc.

The looting only seems to have affected retail, the shooting is still predominately taking place in some neighborhods on the West and South sides (where it was going on before KF) if they had evidence in those cases, I’m guessing KF would prosecute.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 3:12 pm
Champaign County Democrats completed their transformation of the county offices, taking control of the recorder’s office (with bipartisan support to eliminate it through a proposed referendum next year), as well as the circuit clerk’s office and one county board seat in the western part of Champaign. County Coroner Duane Northrup is now the only Republican still holding an elected countywide office (Julia Rietz was the only Democrat officeholder prior to 2018).

Comment by RDB Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 4:27 pm
Never thought I’d see the day in DuPage or Champaign as mentioned above but slowly over time, the Repubs have become just too extreme and the Dems are the party of moderation.

Comment by low level Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 5:25 pm
Re: Amalia’s “I have taken the Red Line lately and it’s become scary.”

Friends of mine in Chicago, life long devotees of public transit, tell me ridership on rapid transit dropped precipitously once the pandemic began. This left the passenger cars open to bad behavior by people who would have held back in normal times, due to fear of not being able to get away with it. So it is literally true that “there is safety in numbers,” and danger when ridership falls too far. This will probably not reverse until there is a vaccine and the number of riders picks up again.

Comment by Comma Chameleon Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 6:00 pm
102nd General Assembly partial House geographic representation:
Downstate Democrats 9 out of 72 total caucus
Suburban Republicans 13 out of 46 total caucus

What a change over the last 30 years.

The Republicans can’t hope to become relevant by picking off
more Downstate seats as they are close to max now.

Comment by Oldtimer Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 7:01 pm