Election Day has arrived, and while the nation's attention will be zeroed in on this election's seven swing states, Illinois voters may be wondering if the Prairie State was ever competitive at the federal level.
Illinois voted Democratic in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, marking the ninth consecutive presidential election that the Land of Lincoln has favored the Democratic presidential candidate.
While Illinois has developed a reputation as a Midwest Democratic stronghold and a safe blue state, it hasn't always been that way for a state that was once a highly competitive political bellwether.
Prior to voting for President Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, Illinois had a record of being a consistent swing state at the national level with a tendency to vote for Republican.
The margin of victory for the winning Republican candidate was below 5 percent in 1968, 1976 and 1988.
Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan won Illinois by over 10 points in 1972 and 1984, respectively.
Illinois' transition from a red-tilting swing state to a bastion for the Democratic Party was arguably aided by the third-party candidacies of Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, who received over 16% and 8% of the vote in the two elections, respectively.
In the 2000 presidential election, Democratic candidate Al Gore won over 54% of the vote, capturing more of the state's vote than Clinton did in each of his campaigns despite his victories.
Democratic nominee John Kerry captured a similar portion of the vote in 2004 before Illinois native Barack Obama carried the state in a landslide in 2008 and 2012, including a 25-point victory in the state in 2008.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
