Editing Illinois (section)

===Party balance===
[[File:Governor JB Pritzker official portrait 2019 (crop).jpg|thumb|upright|Governor [[J. B. Pritzker]] (D)]]

In modern national and state politics, Illinois is a [[Red states and blue states|Democratic stronghold]].<ref>{{cite web |last=McClelland |first=Edward |url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-The-Most-Democratic-State-126772408.html |title=Illinois: The Most Democratic State |publisher=[[NBC Chicago]] |date=August 4, 2011 |access-date=December 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313040549/http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Illinois-The-Most-Democratic-State-126772408.html |archive-date=March 13, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, Illinois was a political [[swing state]], with near-parity existing between the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid [[Red states and blue states|"blue" state]] in both presidential and congressional campaigns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0716/p01s01-uspo.html |title=Suburb shift turns state blue / The Christian Science Monitor |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=July 16, 2004 |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716022620/http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0716/p01s01-uspo.html |archive-date=July 16, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Illinois a blue island in red sea | author-first = Russell | author-last = Working | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | date = 2004-11-08 | pages = [https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-illinois-a-blue-island-i/126633609/ 1-1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-politics-but-even-in-il/126633660/ 1-15] | via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> Illinois's Democratic tendencies are mostly attributable to [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] and [[Chicago]], by far the state's largest county and city, respectively, which have long been strongly Democratic. The [[collar counties]], affluent suburban counties that surround Cook County, were ancestrally Republican and helped keep the state competitive; however, they have swung toward the left in recent elections as the national Republican Party has become increasingly conservative, which has cemented Democratic dominance in state politics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 17, 2020 |title=Illinois primary live results |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/illinois-primary-results-live/index.html |access-date=July 7, 2024 |website= |publisher=[[CNN]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Downstate Illinois|Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area]], the state's rural areas are heavily Republican. The dominance of the Chicago area in state elections is so overwhelming that it has influenced a [[Separation referendums in Illinois|secessionist movement]] in the downstate region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McClelland |first=Edward |date=October 15, 2020 |title=If Downstate Illinois Seceded |url=https://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/October-2020/Illinois-Secession/ |access-date=July 14, 2020 |website=[[Chicago Magazine]] |language=en-US |archive-date=October 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028223448/http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/October-2020/Illinois-Secession/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Illinois was long seen as a national bellwether,<ref>{{cite web |url-status=live |url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1990/ii900209.html |title=Illinois as a bellwether: So what? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194005/http://www.lib.niu.edu/1990/ii900209.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date= July 21, 2013 |first1=David H. |last1=Everson |date=February 1990 |work=Illinois Issues |publisher=Illinois Periodicals Online at Northern Illinois University  }}</ref> supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for [[1916 United States presidential election in Illinois|1916]] and [[1976 United States presidential election in Illinois|1976]]. Since the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], however, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic Party and is part of the "[[Blue wall (U.S. politics)|blue wall]]" of states that have consistently voted Democratic in the last six presidential elections. In [[2000 United States presidential election in Illinois|2000]], [[George W. Bush]] became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or [[Vermont]], with [[Donald Trump]] repeating the feat in 2016. Illinois has not elected a Republican to the [[United States Senate|Senate]] since [[Mark Kirk]] won in [[2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois|2010]]; the last Republicans to hold statewide office were Governor [[Bruce Rauner]] and Lieutenant Governor [[Evelyn Sanguinetti]], who both left office in 2019.