I wonder how many parts of Illinois presidential candidates usually visit.
I guess only Chicago, Aurora, Springfield, and Rock Island County.
And what about statewide candidates? Has any gubernatorial or senatorial candidate seen regions of Illinois south of Sangamon County? 🤷🏻♂️
Ted Cruz did 5 events in Illinois in 2016:
2 Chicago area ones (one was in Glen Ellyn in the far west suburbs, no idea where the other was)
Peoria
Decatur
Springfield
The other pieces of information I have on that are that about a quarter of the population lives below I-80 and that for statewide elections some candidates come downstate a lot while others don’t. JB Pritzker was the only one in the last gubernatorial primary who spent much time downstate.
I don’t know about your other question except I remember reading an article in Golf Digest about how someone took Senate candidate Barack Obama on his first trip to the part of Illinois below the Mason Dixon line to golf at a particular course that this person really liked. Obama’s Senate campaign ended up going all over the state and won basically everything from Rockford to Cairo in a huge landslide that teed him up for his presidential run in 2008.
The only statewide politician who’s from that far south is Dick Durbin.
I’m sure you didn’t want that wall of text but I hope that answers your question.
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