Illinois

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"Illinois"
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1 Political Landscape
2 Illinois Congressional Delgation
3 Illinois State Government
4 Cities and Counties
5 Elections
6 News, Media
7 Political Blogs
8 See also

Political Landscape

Illinois is roughly divided into three political parts:

Moderate-to-liberal, solidly Democratic Chicago;
Moderate-to-conservative, mostly Republican suburbs of Chicago;
Moderate-to-conservative, Democratic-leaning "downstate."

For many years progressive politics was represented by IVI-IPO, Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organization. While still in existance this group is now moribund in spite of founding roots of the great Senator Paul Douglas.

Chicago alone accounts for one-fourth of the state’s total population, and the Chicago metropolitan area accounts for two-thirds. Democratic-controlled Chicago and Democratic-leaning inner suburbs within Cook County comprise 43% of the total state population, and gave John Kerry a stunning county-wide vote margin of nearly 800,000 votes. Because of this, Illinois is generally considered a blue state."

Chicago has a very strong Democratic Party "machine" made infamous by the days of the late mayor Richard J. Daley and dating at least to Anton Cermak (who took a bullet meant for Franklin D. Roosevelt) in the early 20th century. Although the machine has supposedly been busted, Chicago's Democrats, led in part by the current mayor, Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley) have a virtual lock on city politics, and their get-out-the-vote efforts can be impressive. City politics have the usual divisions: racial and ethnic groups, downtown vs. the neighborhoods, old guard vs. independent liberals, but most debate takes place within a one-party, almost feudal system of a king and fifty lords (the aldermen, with their wards).

The same can be said for many of the Chicago suburbs, particularly Cicero or west-suburban DuPage County, except that these suburbs have Republican rather than Democratic machines. Both Chicago and the suburbs have a long history of political corruption, and it is common for the local governments to be under investigation by the FBI. In recent years, demographic changes have remade many inner-ring suburbs of Chicago as reliably Democratic, while outer-ring suburbs and exurbs (the "collar counties" surrounding Cook) remain Republican.

To date, 106 Illinoisans have been killed in the War in Iraq.

Illinois Congressional Delgation

Senate
- Senior Senator: Richard Durbin (D)
- Junior Senator: Barack Obama (D)

House of Representatives
- IL-01 Rep.: Bobby Rush (D)
- IL-02 Rep.: Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D)
- IL-03 Rep.: Dan Lipinski (D)
- IL-04 Rep.: Luis Gutierrez (D)
- IL-05 Rep.: Rahm Emanuel (D)
- IL-06 Rep.: Peter Roskam (R)
- IL-07 Rep.: Danny K. Davis (D)
- IL-08 Rep.: Melissa Bean (D)
- IL-09 Rep.: Janice Schakowsky (D)
- IL-10 Rep.: Mark Steven Kirk (R)
- IL-11 Rep.: Jerry Weller (R)
- IL-12 Rep.: Jerry Costello (D)
- IL-13 Rep.: Judy Biggert (R)
- IL-14 Rep.: Bill Foster (D)
- IL-15 Rep.: Timothy V. Johnson (R)
- IL-16 Rep.: Donald A. Manzullo (R)
- IL-17 Rep.: Phil Hare (D)
- IL-18 Rep.: Ray LaHood (R)
- IL-19 Rep.: John Shimkus (R)

Illinois members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and District #
- Danny K. Davis - 07
- Lane Evans - 17
- Luis Gutierrez - 04
- Jesse L. Jackson Jr. - 02
- Bobby Rush - 01
- Jan Schakowsky - 09
Democratic Challengers in 2006 and District #
- Tammy Duckworth - 06
Republican US Representatives of note
- Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, hails from the 14th District located in the Chicago Suburbs.
- Henry Hyde, who led the House managers in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, represents Illinois's 6th District, in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Illinois State Government

Executive Branch
- Governor: Rod Blagojevich (D) A former Congressman who once served in the seat held by longtime Ways-and-Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski. Son-in-law of Chicago Alderman Dick Mell. Blagojevich is Illinois's first Democratic governor in over two decades. Reelected in 2006.
- Lt Governor: Pat Quinn (D) A populist Democrat who advocates changing the Illinois Constitution. His populist image suffers when it is recalled that he was responsible for a drive that amended the State Constitution to remove a system of proportional representation.
- Atty. General: Lisa Madigan, (D)
- Secretary of State: Jesse White, (D)
- Treasurer: Alexi Giannoulias, (D)
- Comptroller: Dan Hynes (D)

Legislative Branch
- Illinois General Assembly Fifty-nine Senate districts, each divided into two for the Assembly.
  - Illinois State Representatives
    - 66 Democrats
    - 52 Republicans
  - Illinois Senators
    - 32 Democrats
    - 26 Republicans
    - 1 Independent
- Speaker of the House: Michael J. Madigan (D 22nd District) Powerful Chicago 13th Ward Committeeman and Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. He is often at odds with Governor Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. His Daughter Lisa Madigan is now Illinois Attorney General and considered a rising star in Illinois politics.
- President of the Senate: Emil Jones Jr. (D 14th District) Became Senate President in 2002 when the Senate came under Democrat control.
- Illinois State Senate Elections, 2006
- Illinois State House Elections, 2006