Trump's gains in Illinois a rejection of Democrat status quo, Republican says

The state’s political leaders have already taken some lessons from preliminary election results as the Illinois State Board of Elections prepares the final election results.

Just after the election, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker acknowledged President-elect Donald Trump gaining some ground in Illinois, but down-ballot and local Democrats won their races.

“Remember that Republicans in Illinois were projecting that they’d win five seats in the General Assembly, and they didn’t,” Pritzker said. “So I’m proud of that. I think that’s a result of the policies that Democrats have had in Illinois and the approval of the voters about those.”

For Illinois Republicans, there was no ground gained in either the congressional delegation or the state legislature. But, state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said the results are not an endorsement of the status quo, but rather evidence of an electoral map rigged by Democrats.

“Donald Trump, who did not do any work or advertising in this state, took 44% of the vote. That’s a far cry from the three districts that are represented in Congress and certainly a far crime from the one-third of the legislature that is represented by Republicans,” Spain said.

Unofficial results as of Wednesday showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning Illinois’ popular vote with 54.8% to former President and President-elect Donald Trump’s 43.8%. All 19 of Illinois’ Electoral College votes go to Harris. Nationwide, Trump secured the popular vote and 312 Electoral College votes, going well over the 270 needed.

Of Illinois’ 102 counties, Trump won all but 14. Pritzker noted Trump’s popularity gained in the state, but said it didn’t translate down the ballot where he said Democratic priorities were approved by voters.

“We won in races that I think people didn’t expect, county board races, taking control of the McClain County board for example, coroners’ races,” Pritzker said. “People clearly bifurcated and made decisions different down the ballot than they did at the top of the ballot.”

Spain took the results differently.

“It is not an endorsement of the status quo,” Spain said of Illinois Republicans not making ground in Democrat drawn legislative districts. “It is an indictment of the Democratic gerrymandering and the way that voters have been disenfranchised in the state of Illinois.”

The Illinois State Board of Elections meets Monday for its proclamation of election results.