Illinois

ILLINOIS, THE PRAIRIE State, was one of the states created from the Territory northwest of the Ohio River. Its eastern boundary was fixed in 1809 when Illinois Territory was separated from Indiana Territory. The territorial capital was what is now the ghost town of Kas-kaskia, on the west side of the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis. When Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, Congress fixed the northern boundary at its present location.

It is the largest in population of the midwestern states. Geography and early decisions of railroad builders made Chicago the Hub of America, a title it has carried into the jet age. Chicago's strategic position near the southern end of Lake Michigan—which railroads, of course, cannot cross—and the easy access to points eastward and westward from there made the city the biggest trading center of the American interior. The emergence of Chicago as Illinois's main center, and one of the three largest metropolises in America has greatly affected Illinois politics.

A frequent cleavage in the state is Chicago vs. Downstate. This is a similar pattern that emerges in other states with a single large metropolitan area, such as New York and Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, 69 percent of the state's population lives in the Illinois portion of the Chicago metropolitan area. As the city of Chicago has declined in dominance within the region as the suburban population grows, another cleavage is Chicago city vs. the rest of the state. Unlike California, for example, with several large metropolitan areas, Illinois is singularly dominated by Chicago, and the next largest metropolitan areas (Springfield, Rockford, and the Illinois portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area) are all considerably smaller. It has also aided the dominance of Chicago statewide, and within its own metropolitan region, that there is no dominant suburb; no suburb of Chicago has even three percent of the city's population. Thus, when the mayor of Chicago makes a statement, there is no single voice in the region that can rise in opposition; all of the suburban mayors in Cook County have a smaller combined constituency.

Illinois's governors were all Democrats until 1856, then all Republicans until 1892. The period of Republican dominance continued until 1932. Since then, the governorship has been quite closely contested by both parties. Republicans held it continuously 1976–2002. In a sharp contrast to some other large states, only a small number of Illinois governors have become nationally prominent. Democrat Adlai Stevenson, II gave up the governorship to run unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee for president in 1952; he lost again in 1956.

Illinois has mostly been represented by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. The state appointed Democrats exclusively, until the founding of the Republican Party in 1854, then almost exclusively Republicans for the rest of the time senators were appointed by legislatures. In the period of direct election, the state has mostly elected Democrats. Some of the most prominent senators from Illinois, however, have been Republicans, including Charles W. Percy, who served three terms, and Everett W. Dirksen, who died in office during his fourth term, having ascended to the position of minority leader. Some of the prominent Democrats include Paul Douglas, Adlai Stevenson, III (who gave up his Senate seat for an unsuccessful run for governor), Paul Simon (who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988), and Barack Obama, elected in 2004 and a 2008 contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. Illinois has had several senators defeated for re-election, illustrating the closely divided nature of the electorate.

...