Some of our fellow Illinoisans don’t like us. They want nothing to do with their compatriots in northeastern Illinois.
These folks are in seven Downstate counties who in the Nov. 5 election voted to secede and form the 51st state. Specifically targeting Cook County, they apparently don’t know that Lake, DuPage, Kane and Will counties should be in their secession sights as well.
Voters in the counties — Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Iroquois, Jersey, Madison and Perry — were asked on the advisory ballot question: “Shall the board of (the county) correspond with the boards of other counties of Illinois, outside of Cook County, about the possibility of separating from Cook County to form a new state and to seek admission to the Union as such, subject to the approval of the people?”
Of course, they are tilting at windmills. The Illinois and U.S. Constitutions prohibit secession, which our fellow citizens may remember touched off the Civil War.
The non-binding referendums passed with more than 70% of the vote in six of the counties. Only voters in Madison County, the eighth-most populous county in the Land of Lincoln and considered suburban in the St. Louis metro area, giving it a mere 56% approval.
The latest move isn’t the first to bring up forming a new state from Downstate Illinois counties. Voters in at least 21 other far-south counties voted in favor of splitting from the state in the 2020 and 2022 elections.
Citizens in other states — California and Oregon come to mind — have also called for seceding from their respective states. Nothing has come to fruition.
That’s because Article IV of the U.S. Constitution spells out: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union, but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
Yet Downstaters persist. A few decades back, residents in the western bulge of Illinois came up with the despondent moniker of “Forgottonia” for their region.
Ranging from wide soybean and corn fields to family-owned hog farms, the area also includes Macomb, home of Western Illinois University, to sleepy Mississippi River towns like Oquawka, the final resting place of circus elephant Norma Jean. Residents settled on Forgottonia because they felt they were being ignored and forgotten by their fellow Illinoisans when it came to transportation and infrastructure improvements.
Downstaters have long bellyached that Cook County, and by proxy Chicago, and its environs have a giant impact on the policies enacted by the legislature in Springfield. The mainly rural counties, which voted overwhelmingly for President-elect Donald Trump, contend their values and interests are not being represented in Springfield because of the political power of Cook County Democrats.
Some Lake Countians may feel the same, but after the Nov. 5 election we and fellow suburban counties appear to have turned blue on the face of it. Lake voters overwhelmingly cast their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris (179,588/59.3%) over Trump (118,647/39.4%), according to unofficial results from the County Clerk’s Office. Vote totals are scheduled to be certified at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Countywide offices are all solidly held by Democrats, while the Lake County Board has a Democrat majority. In normally Republican-reliable DuPage County, Harris garnered 250,830 votes (55.8%) to Trump’s 191,084 (42.5%).
Kane County, also once a Republican bastion, saw Harris get 120,015 votes (53.4%) to Trump’s total of 99,245 (44.1%). Will County was close, but Harris still won it by 157,453 (49.1%) to Trump’s 155,142 (48.4%). In comparison, Iroquois County, the northernmost which voted to secede, went for Trump, who gained 81.3% of the presidential vote.
Gov, J.B. Pritzker has taken umbrage that some of his constituents want out of the great Prairie State. “The idea that someplace in Illinois wants to kick out another place in Illinois should not be on the ballot, shouldn’t be something that’s part of the lexicon and discussion of politicians,” he said, according to one account. “We’re one state, supporting each other.”
With that in mind, the governor has promised to “Trump-proof” Illinois from what he considers the president-elect’s plan to follow extreme policies he ran on during the presidential campaign. That stand may entice some to move from surrounding red states to this blue haven.
We shall see if there is an abundant number of newcomers looking for safety from the red scare. One study notes millennials would be the most likely to relocate for political reasons, followed by Gen X and Gen Z cohorts. Bringing up the rear are Boomers.
If there is a rush for the Illinois border, don’t expect Downstaters to welcome the blue wave, which they seem to disdain even more than their fellow residents.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
X: @sellenews
