COMMENTARY: A New Illinois won’t fix anything, Alan Webber

So, I’m spending a half-day on my 34th birthday working on the website when I get bombarded with a bunch of Google Alerts. One of these alerts relates to anything relating to the state of Illinois. Among one of these alert blasts, this ridiculous op-ed today from the Kankakee Daily Journal was among them. Not even two paragraphs in did op-ed columnist Alan Webber make some factual inaccuracies: Webber states, “However, if you review election returns, Biden didn’t win the State of Illinois, he won Cook County.” However, Democratic nominee and former Vice-President Joseph Biden won more than just Cook County. Sure, it was by a 50-point margin in the county, but Biden won in other counties as well. Go one county north to Lake County. Biden solidly won that county with a roughly 24-point margin. Go west to DuPage County, where the City of Chicago in parts overlap. Biden won the county solidly by nearly 20 points. Go south to Will County and you’ll see Biden won by nearly nine points. Need I go further? I will anyway. Biden won solidly in Kane County by 15 points. Additionally, the same is also true in Rock Island County, by 12 points. He would win in Champaign County by nearly 23 points. Biden would win in seven other counties by a margin of six points or less. So the assumption that Webber makes, stating Trump would win Illinois, is still laughable.

Webber continues with more ridiculous assumptions on the Illinois election

Prior voting statistics clearly debunk that. There are far more Democratic counties in the state outside of Chicago and Cook County.

Debunking Webber’s assumption that all Democrats are in Cook County

Let’s take the 2018 gubernatorial election for example. Then-candidate JB Pritzker would win in the same number of counties. Eight of them are the same usual suspects, including Cook. The other eight were counties that vary in turnout from election cycle to election cycle. Taking Cook County out of the picture, the largest winning margin for Pritzker was by nearly 18 points in Champaign County, 13 points in Jackson and Alexander counties, and 12 points in St. Clair County. All other counties had results of Pritzker winning by eight points or less. The only county that neither Pritzker nor then-Governor Bruce Rauner would carry was Pike County. More votes went between former Sen. Sam McCann of the Conservative Party and Kash Jackson of the Libertarian Party. McCann would receive a lion’s share of those votes.

The state’s attorney’s race in Cook County

Webber would mention the Cook County State’s Attorney race briefly, continuing to make attacks toward Democrat Kim Foxx. I don’t recall a single op-ed from the Daily Journal that fired at the incredibly weak Republican in the race. What about his shortcomings and wrongdoings as a prosecutor? But guess who else he ignores? The Libertarian who ran in that race: Brian Dennehy. Despite a major disadvantage in fundraising and campaigning, enough voters wanted a change in another manner. While results are not official, Dennehy would earn nearly 7% of the vote on Election Day.

New Illinois….and why this sixth attempt to eliminate Chicago will fail again

Webber would mention this New Illinois organization. They have a plan of splitting the State of Illinois, much like how West Virginia split from Virginia in 1863. One problem which leads to hypocrisy and lies from moment one: their mission statement. It states that “we are a nonpartisan organization addressing the urban vs. rural, small-town and suburban divide in the state.” Here’s where I laugh: 99.92% of the people involved in this organization are all a bunch of crybaby Republicans. Imagine that. Here’s where I think it won’t work: the track record of five previous referendums failing. Three binding referendums in the 1990s would overwhelmingly fail. The reasoning for its failure: that Illinois would struggle economically without its largest economic hub. The previous two, which were non-binding, would fail to make the ballot. Additionally, here’s another way I believe New Illinois will fail: the Libertarian Party recently earned their recognized party status as a result of the State’s Attorney race. There’s going to be much more resistance to the movement, especially from Libertarians who fought to make the ballot for this race.

One crucial reason why Chicago will not become the 51st state

Finally, one more way I believe this movement fails: Congress won’t approve a 51st state unless it’s an existing U.S. territory. Puerto Rico has been leading this charge since 1967, 15 years after becoming a commonwealth territory. That vote would reject statehood. However, that opinion has improved over the years. While a 1991 constitutional amendment would fail, statehood opinion would increase. Three referendums in 1993, 1998, and 2012 would not have clear majorities. While there was overwhelming support in 2017, there was only a voter turnout of 23%. In 2020, there was a 52% voter turnout, and there was nearly a 5-point spread in favor of statehood.