TAKING THEIR VOTES AND GOING HOME?

Over the years, residents of downstate Illinois counties have made noises about divorcing Chicago, or possibly moving in with Indiana.

The latest round of referendums appeared on ballots in 12 counties, plus several townships within Adams County, during Tuesday's election, with all of them approving the measures.

The results bring the total to 45 Illinois counties that have approved non-binding secession referendums since 2020, according to a county-by-county review of election results and local officials.

The measures do not actually remove communities from Illinois. Instead, they give voters an opportunity to express support for exploring separation.

Supporters of the movement say communities outside the Chicago area are being overlooked by state lawmakers and that policies benefiting Cook County and Chicago can come at the expense of downstate Illinois.

"The state legislature tends to not take us into consideration when they're making their laws," said Loret Newlin, who is helping lead the Illinois Separation referendum effort.

Newlin said the movement is focused on creating an entirely new state rather than having downstate counties absorbed into Indiana.

Some of the disgruntled counties are along the Indiana line, and Anschluss makes more sense to Indiana politicians than carving out a new state.

Don't get me speculating about how efforts by Democrats to (contrary to the Federal Constitution) turn the District of Columbia into a state or to turn New York or California into multiple states might unleash the separatists in Illinois or those portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan along Lake Superior.

Indiana State Rep. Todd Huston told FOX Chicago in 2025 his state would be willing to have conversations with Illinois communities interested in joining Indiana.

"We're kind of raising our hand to say, 'Hey, don't start a 51 state, we would love to have ya in Indiana,'" Huston said.

Huston pointed to Indiana's lower taxes, regulatory environment and economic development as reasons Illinois residents might consider making the move.

He also cited more than 100,000 people moving from Illinois to Indiana since 2020.

Those policies benefitting Chicagoland include a recent appropriation creating a transportation authority for Chicago using funds diverted from road repairs in the downstate county.  That's likely the anecdotal evidence the separatists are pointing to, although there are researchers who claim the rural counties are tax sinks.

[R]esearch from Southern Illinois University's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute offers a different perspective on one of the movement's central complaints: that downstate Illinois does not receive its fair share of state funding.

A study examining Illinois tax revenue and state spending found that downstate regions receive more state funding than they contribute in taxes.

According to the research, Southern Illinois receives approximately $2.81 in state funding for every $1 generated in taxes. Central Illinois receives about $1.87 for every $1 contributed.

By comparison, Cook County receives about 90 cents for every dollar it generates, while suburban counties receive approximately 53 cents.

The research was based on 2013 tax and budget records and examined how state revenue and spending were distributed across Illinois' regions.

Researchers also pointed to the political consequences of regional divisions, arguing that resentment between different parts of the state can make it more difficult to address broader public policy challenges.

The article provides no link to that research, which might in any event be outdated; it likely assigns income and sales tax receipts to the business processing them; and it does not contemplate,  for instance, federal farm subsidies including ethanol and soybean production.  Perhaps another post on that dimension of the story another day.

The editorial team at Shaw Media, which publish a number of outer suburban newspapers including DeKalb's Chronicle, suggest that perhaps Illinois Republicans be less crazy.

Election after election, the Illinois GOP returns to the same types of candidates, even after voters have repeatedly rejected them. Darren Bailey has now lost two general elections for governor, in 2022 and 2026, both called within minutes of polls closing. Jim Marter has repeatedly won Republican congressional primaries but hasn’t been able to turn those victories into a general election win.

There is room in Illinois for a responsible, fiscally conscious, pragmatic Republican Party. In fact, there is a need for one. Healthy democracies depend on competitive elections, meaningful debate and voters having real choices.

Illinois is a blue state. Nobody should pretend otherwise. But that doesn’t mean Republicans should surrender statewide elections before the first vote is cast.

The problem isn’t that Illinois Republicans are conservative. It’s that the party continues to elevate candidates whose politics appeal to a narrow segment of Republican voters but do little to attract the independents and suburban voters needed to win. And in Tuesday’s Democratic wave, that weakness had consequences down the ballot, as several suburban county boards became even more Democratic.

Forty years ago, Illinois had Republican governors, perhaps to offset the Combine's control of the state legislature, and for the most part they did a better job than the likes of Rod Blagojevich and J. B. Pritzker.  Bruce Rauner might have spoiled the field of play doing a Farm and Fleet impression of Donald Trump.  Moreover, Illinois have an open primary, and who knows how many mischievous Democrats cross over to advance the crazies.  More unintended consequences of "progressive" reforms.

The editors further note that giving the Combine free rein might not end well.

Illinois voters pay a price for the party’s failures.

Democrats shouldn’t get a free pass simply because Republicans can’t field competitive opponents. Voters deserve meaningful choices, candidates serious about governing and a political system in which both parties must defend their ideas and records.

The Illinois GOP can continue nominating familiar candidates who appeal to its most loyal supporters but struggle to win general elections. Or it can recruit credible candidates, broaden its appeal and give Illinois voters a reason to take another look.

It’s time to stop confusing ideological loyalty with political viability.

It might be that more than a few potential Republican voters have left Illinois, and perhaps taken their version of Republican principles with them.  Town Hall's Ira Mehlman notes as much: "play in Peoria or Plano" doesn't mean what it used to.  "It was places like Peoria (though not Peoria itself) that propelled the Blue Wave that swept Democrats back into control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections."

Well, no, Peoria, and Rockford, and Decatur, and the Quad Cities long ago lost their manufacturing bases, and what remains are "meds and eds" and welfare recipients and they vote accordingly.  Mr Mehlman might have been thinking of the Plano in Texas.  The one in Illinois might no longer have horse parking in the tavern district: certainly along Ogden Avenue it's stroad hell indistinguishable from Yorkville (once home to Republican Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert) or Naperville to the east.