Illinois is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections and one of the "Big Three" Democratic strongholds alongside

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It is one of the most Democratic states in the nation with all state executive offices and both state legislative branches held by Democrats. For most of its history, Illinois was widely considered to be a swing state, voting for the winner of all but two presidential elections in the 20th century. Political party strength in Illinois is highly dependent upon

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

, and the state's reputation as a blue state rests upon the fact that over 40% of its population and political power is concentrated in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Cook County, and the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. Outside of Chicago, the suburban

collar counties Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and com ...

continue trending Democratic while downstate Illinois can be considered more conservative with several Democratic leaning regions including Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford, Peoria, the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

, and suburban

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Illinois's electoral college votes have gone towards the Democratic presidential candidate for the past eight elections, and its congressional makeup tilts heavily Democratic with a 14-3 majority as of . However, it has a history of competitive statewide elections and has elected a small number of moderate Republicans including Governors

Jim Edgar James Robert Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A Moderate Republican (modern United States), moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he previously s ...

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (February 24, 1934 – May 2, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 ...

, and

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

, Senators Peter Fitzgerald and

Mark Kirk Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is an American retired politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017, and as the United States representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district f ...

, and other state executive officeholders including

Judy Baar Topinka Judy Baar Topinka (; January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois. Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois ...

and

Dan Rutherford Dan Rutherford (born May 26, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Illinois Treasurer, Treasurer of Illinois from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously was the Illinois Se ...

. The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

: *

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

* Secretary of State *

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

(Auditor before 1972) *

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the: *

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

* State House of Representatives * State delegation to the U.S. Senate * State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

Table

*Regarding resignations and appointments; the person who held the office for the majority of the year is listed as the office holder for that year.

Gallery

References

*Guild III, William (September 1999)
"William Guild, Sr."
DCBA Brief. Retrieved on 11 Feb. 2009.
Inventory of the Latham Castle Collection (Historical Sketch)
Notes maintained by Northern Illinois University Library. Retrieved on 11 Feb. 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Political Party Strength In Illinois Political parties in Illinois

Politics of Illinois

Table

Gallery

See also

References