Political Science

Illinois is often considered a big state with conservative ideologies; however, in recent years this state has been moving into the Democratic column. Presently, the United States (U.S.) congressional delegation of Illinois remains evenly split and, as a result of the 2002 election, the Democratic Party has control of the governor's mansion, the state House and the state Senate. Illinois, for the past 46 elections has been equivalent to a political weather vain for the country. In the 2000 election, Illinois voted for the losing presidential candidate for only the second time in 80 years. During the 20th century, the Democrats successfully dominated Chicago's politics. Party bosses and leaders exercised their influence at all levels of society by controlling appointments and patronage while also engineering the vote. Among these politicians was the legendary Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who had a dramatic effect on two presidential contests. In 1960, Daley was instrumental in rousing support for John F. Kennedy, and in 1968 his police clashed with demonstrators at the Democratic Convention, damaging the city's political psyche and the party's image. As a result, when the Democratic Convention returned to Illinois in 1996 the political machine had largely gone. (BBC News 10/22/03)1

The current mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley Jr., the highly popular son of the former mayor of the city, is akin to his father in more ways than just genetics. Like his father, Daley Jr. seems to know the city, block by block, and has worked to beautify it by planting thousands of trees and erecting handsome wrought-iron fences. Daley has also sought and obtained racial reconciliation, even while rallying to his side the new immigrant voters and the old Lakefront liberals. In just about every poll Daley is seen to be the most popular political figure not just in Chicago, but also in all of Illinois. Moreover, though the old political machine that his father so ably led is no more, Daley has used the powers of office his office to propitiate the black politicians who at first seemed to be his strongest opponents. (BBC news 10/22/03)1

In February of 1999 Daley won reelection by a 72% to 28% (National Journal- 7/14/03)2 margin, with nearly 45% of the black vote against a serious. black candidate, Congressman Bobby Rush. What makes Daley’s popularity worth national attention is that his luster, once again showing signs of his father, has extended to his party. Illinois has been getting steadily more Democratic in recent years. Bill Clinton won Illinois in both the 1992 and 1996 elections, winning the second time by a bigger margin. Also in 2000 Al Gore won Illinois by a fifty-five per cent to forty-three margin. Conversely, the state Republican Party is in disarray. The party’s most recent governor, George Ryan, left office in 2002 in disgrace and is now under indictment on more than twenty counts of official corruption. Furthermore, Jim Ryan, the Republican nominee for Attorney General-- no relation to the former governor, but bearing the handicap of the same last name-- in July of 2002 publicly called on George Ryan to resign giving validity to rumors of intra-party strife. Moreover, the longtime state House Republican leader Lee Daniels was forced to resign as state party chairman after his staff was accused of making hundreds of campaign trips on state time. The current state of affairs is so bad for Republicans in Illinois that it’s widely said that the Bush-Cheney campaign will not contest the state. (Nat’l Journal Almanac 7/2004) 2

Illinois, as mentioned earlier, has had a history of being an important political bellwether state, partly because it reflects the nation in miniature size. The “Land of Lincoln” appears to possess all three of the country's major land groupings: a major metropolitan area, fast-growing suburbs, and rural counties. Illinois also reflects the urban renaissance during the 1990s, when Chicago reversed three decades of near-zero population growth with a 9 percent increase. Although Illinois is still an important manufacturing center, having the largest service and white-collar sector in the interior of the U.S., the trading of commodities, rather than of meat, as it was in the past, dominates the city's economy. Illinois's economy has also attracted millions of immigrants to Chicago over the decades, and it is now the third largest city in the U.S., with the world's second biggest airport and a university that employs more Nobel laureates than any other in the world. (BBC NEWS 10/23/04) 1

Illinois demographics can also be said to be a microcosm of the nation as a whole. Currently, Illinois has a population of roughly 12,419,293, a population that ranks fifth in the U.S.. 87.8% of the population lives within major cites or suburbs while 12.2% resides in rural areas. In Illinois about 8,500,000 (68%) of the population