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DuPage County, Illinois
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==Politics== DuPage County was historically a stronghold of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], and a classic bastion of suburban conservatism. In recent years, DuPage County has joined other suburban counties outside large U.S. cities trending [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] in presidential election years since the 1990s. The county also leans Democratic in state and local politics. In the [[2018 Illinois gubernatorial election]], [[J. B. Pritzker]] became the first Democratic candidate for the governorship to win the county in nearly 100 years. DuPage County voters backed Pritzker in his [[2022 Illinois gubernatorial election|2022 re-election]] bid by a large margin.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaufmann |first=Justin |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Democrats win Illinois ... for now |work=Axios |url=https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2022/11/10/democrats-win-illinois-midterms-2022}}</ref> === National politics === {{PresHead|place=DuPage County, Illinois|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=May 8, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323225526/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|archive-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>}} <!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} --> {{PresRow|2024|Democratic|191,243|251,164|18,261|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2020|Democratic|193,611|281,222|12,930|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2016|Democratic|166,415|228,622|35,637|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2012|Democratic|195,046|199,460|6,575|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2008|Democratic|183,626|228,698|5,649|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2004|Republican|218,902|180,097|3,447|Illinois}} {{PresRow|2000|Republican|201,037|152,550|10,775|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1996|Republican|164,630|129,709|30,147|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1992|Republican|178,271|114,564|78,152|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1988|Republican|217,907|94,285|1,862|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1984|Republican|227,141|71,430|1,644|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1980|Republican|182,308|68,991|33,450|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1976|Republican|175,055|72,137|7,355|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1972|Republican|172,341|57,043|355|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1968|Republican|124,893|48,492|14,111|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1964|Republican|98,871|66,229|0|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1960|Republican|101,014|44,263|168|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1956|Republican|91,834|23,103|207|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1952|Republican|71,134|22,489|217|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1948|Republican|45,794|15,528|916|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1944|Republican|41,890|18,711|174|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1940|Republican|40,746|18,923|380|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1936|Republican|28,380|21,684|1,568|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1932|Republican|25,758|18,547|1,504|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1928|Republican|28,016|10,479|217|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1924|Republican|16,917|1,893|4,423|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1920|Republican|12,280|2,084|612|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1916|Republican|9,610|4,816|868|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1912|Progressive|1,136|2,236|4,589|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1908|Republican|4,530|1,975|575|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1904|Republican|4,078|1,407|506|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1900|Republican|3,869|1,947|237|Illinois}} {{PresRow|1896|Republican|4,115|1,588|268|Illinois}} {{PresFoot|1892|Republican|2,478|2,154|290|Illinois}} The county supported [[Barack Obama]], a Chicago resident, in 2008 and 2012 (albeit narrowly in 2012). Obama was the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the county since [[Franklin Pierce]] in [[1852 United States presidential election|1852]]. The only time prior to 2008 that a Republican had failed to win the county was in 1912, when the GOP was mortally divided and former president and [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] nominee [[Theodore Roosevelt]] won over half the county's vote. DuPage County has historically been a fiscally and socially conservative Republican stronghold, though in recent years has become more politically liberal especially on issues of race and immigration.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abc7chicago.com/blm-black-lives-matter-chicago-what-is-movement/6253776/|title=White mothers in Wheaton come together to design Black Lives Matter signs|date=June 18, 2020|access-date=June 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180115/roskam-on-immigration-we-want-those-very-people-among-us|title=Roskam on immigration: 'We want those very people among us'|date=January 15, 2018|access-date=June 28, 2020}}</ref> DuPage County has been shifting more Democratic, with [[Joe Biden]] winning nearly 58% of the vote in 2020. DuPage County has not voted for a Republican candidate for president since 2004. [[Donald Trump]] was the first Republican nominee for president since 1912 to get less than 40% of the DuPage County vote, both in the 2016 and 2020 general elections. Many DuPage County communities which normally vote Republican, including but not limited to [[Naperville, Illinois|Naperville]], [[Lisle, Illinois|Lisle]], [[Wheaton, Illinois|Wheaton]], [[Glen Ellyn, Illinois|Glen Ellyn]], [[Carol Stream, Illinois|Carol Stream]], [[Downers Grove, Illinois|Downers Grove]], and [[Elmhurst, Illinois|Elmhurst]] did not support Donald Trump in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20161230/mapping-the-suburban-vote-for-trump-clinton|title=Mapping the suburban vote for Trump, Clinton|date=December 30, 2016|access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref> In December 2019, shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives [[First impeachment of Donald Trump|voted to impeach Donald Trump]], [[Carol Stream, Illinois|Carol Stream]]-based ''[[Christianity Today]]'' published a controversial editorial calling for the removal of Trump from office, citing the need to hold him to the same standards to which they held [[Bill Clinton]] in the 1990s (who was the last Democratic nominee for president to get less than 40% of the DuPage County vote).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html|title=Trump Should Be Removed from Office|date=December 19, 2019 |access-date=April 12, 2020}}</ref> In the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], DuPage County is in the [[Illinois's 5th congressional district|5th]], [[Illinois's 6th congressional district|6th]], [[Illinois's 8th congressional district|8th]], [[Illinois's 11th congressional district|11th]] and [[Illinois's 14th congressional district|14th]] districts. In the 2018 general election, despite the county's historical Republican dominance, Democrats won every congressional district within the county.<ref name="Blue Wave 2018"/> === Local politics === Republicans historically controlled local politics in DuPage County from the nineteenth century until modern times. During the twentieth century, Democrats only held countywide office twice. In 1934 William Robinson was elected Circuit Clerk and Arthur Hellyer was elected Treasurer. That year also saw the first ever Democratic majority county board and only such majority that century.<ref>{{cite news|title=Democrats Hold Jubilee as New Officials Go In|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 4, 1934|id={{ProQuest|181618400}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37232613/|title=Democrats Win Two DuPage Offices|newspaper=[[Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois)|Daily Herald]]|page=15|date=November 9, 1934|access-date=April 17, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419002658/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37232613/|archive-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref> Robinson and Hellyer each served one term; Robinson lost his bid for a full term in 1936 and Hellyer left the Treasurer's office to make a failed bid for probate judge in 1938.<ref>{{cite news|title=G.O.P. Banners Wave Over Five Nearby Counties: Democratic Office Holders Ousted by Voters|date=November 9, 1938|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> In 2018, as part of a larger suburban realignment, Democratic candidate Jean Kaczmarek won the election for County Clerk and Daniel Hebreard won the President of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.<ref name="Blue Wave 2018"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=The Democrats' vote-by-mail juggernaut|date=November 20, 2018|newspaper=[[Capitol Fax]]|access-date=November 21, 2018|url=https://capitolfax.com/2018/11/20/the-democrats-vote-by-mail-juggernaut/}}</ref><ref>The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a countywide special district coterminous with DuPage County, Illinois</ref> During that same period Democrats were sporadically elected to the county board and township government. In 1972, Don Carroll was elected to the County Board. In the Democratic wave of 1974, Jane Spirgel, Mary Eleanor Wall, and Elaine Libovicz were elected. All four were from the northeastern portion of DuPage, which at that time was the most Democratic region of the county.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sherlock|first1=Barbara|last2=Shallwani|first2=Pervaiz|title=DuPage Democrats hope board exile short-lived|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=November 8, 2002|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> Eventually, Republicans regained all seats on the board when Jane Spirgel ran for [[Illinois Secretary of State]] with [[Adlai Stevenson III]] under the [[Illinois Solidarity Party|Solidarity Party]] banner.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schmeltzer|first=John|title=Spirgel one of a kind in Du Page|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 6, 1986|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> In 2000, Linda J. Bourke Hilbert was elected. Like her 1970s counterparts, she was from the northeastern portion of the county.<ref>{{cite news|last=Trebe|first=Patricia|title=Linda J. Bourke Hilbert, 63; DuPage County Board's 1st Democrat since '80s|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 6, 1986|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> During the 2008 Democratic wave, three Democrats were elected to the board.<ref>{{cite news|last=Napolitano|first=Jo|title=Democrats gaining a foothold|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]|date=November 5, 2008}}</ref> After the initial Obama wave, Republicans reasserted themselves on the board and by 2017 Democrats held only one of the eighteen board seats. In the 2018 general election, Democrats won seven seats as well as the offices of County Clerk and Forest Preserve District President.<ref name="Blue Wave 2018">{{cite news|last=Rakow|first=Bob|title=Blue Wave hits DuPage County|date=November 14, 2018|newspaper=My Suburban Life|access-date=November 21, 2018|url=https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2018/11/13/blue-wave-hits-dupage-county/a58dpra/}}</ref> In 1973, a slate of Democrats took eight of nine offices in [[Addison Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Addison Township]]. This feat would not be replicated until 2017 when Democratic candidates won a majority of offices in [[Naperville Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Naperville]] and [[Lisle Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Lisle]] townships.<ref>{{cite web|last=Erin|first=Hegarty|title=Dems unseat several incumbents in Naperville, Lisle township races|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]|date=April 5, 2017|access-date=April 17, 2017|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-naperville-lisle-township-democrats-election-st-0407-20170405-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416130331/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-naperville-lisle-township-democrats-election-st-0407-20170405-story.html|archive-date=April 16, 2017}}</ref> Between these two victories, Democrats only held two township offices. Mark Starkovich served as [[York Township, DuPage County, Illinois|York Township Supervisor]] from 1989 to 1993 and Martin McManamon has served as [[Wayne Township, DuPage County, Illinois|Wayne Township Highway Commissioner]] since 2013.<ref>{{cite news|last=Young|first=Linda|title=Democrats lose toehold and confidence in future|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=April 22, 1993|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]}}</ref> In 2020, Democrats won control of the DuPage County Board, expanding on their 2018 lead.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Horstead |first1=Megann |title=DuPage County Board Democrats ride blue wave in election |url=https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2020/11/11/dupage-county-board-democrats-ride-blue-wave-in-election/a9q08ay/ |access-date=January 19, 2022 |work=MySuburbanLife.com |date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113042444/https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2020/11/11/dupage-county-board-democrats-ride-blue-wave-in-election/a9q08ay/ |archive-date=November 13, 2020}}</ref> In 2022, Democrats expanded their majority in the County Board to 11 seats out of 18.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Democrats Poised To Hold DuPage County Board |url=https://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/democrats-poised-hold-dupage-county-board |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=Elmhurst, IL Patch |language=en}}</ref> Concurrently, Democrat [[Deb Conroy]] was elected as the chairman of the County Board.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2022 |title=Illinois State Rep. Deb Conroy makes history as 1st woman elected DuPage County Board chairman |url=https://abc7chicago.com/deb-conroy-dupage-county-board-greg-hart/12435304/ |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}</ref>
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