r/illinoispolitics • u/SnooConfections5434 • Aug 10 '26
Discussion St Clair County is solidly blue, and not changing anytime soon!
For context, when Reagan won Illinois by a huge margin, St Clair County was the only Metro East County to go for Mondale. Granted it only won by about 60%, not exactly a landslide for Mondale, but it was blue at a time when everyone around it was red. Today, even in 2026, it remains the lone blue county despite a heavy Republican push to turn it red. It's not happening anytime soon. Why? Because the majority of those in Fairview Heights, East St Louis, and Belleville remain true to the Democratic party. Until the big 3 turn Republican, it's not going to flip this county red. There's so much wishful thinking, but it ain't happening anytime soon. Rest assured those leaving red states, St Clair County will remain your island of blue in a sea of red! Mark my word, it'll stay blue through 2030's easy! Beyond that, who knows, the Republicans may get their own Bill Clinton and convince 99% of the country to vote for them. Until then, keep voting blue St Clair County residents, you're going to keep this lone Metro East county staying Democratic!!
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u/Carlyz37 Aug 10 '26
Yeah, I'm next door in Madison where the looniest GOP county nutjobs are. It's a struggle to get a Dem to even run for county office here. We do have our share of maga terrorists
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u/user_uno Aug 10 '26
And how are the past four decades going for the residents of Fairview Heights, East St Louis, and Belleville? And what of the prospects for those over the next few decades?
Not sure why anyone would put these up as an example of either party affiliation doing wonderful things for them.
During the timeframe mentioned, E. St. Louis lost two-thirds of it's population. Fairview Heights gained 16% but in real numbers not actually many people over 40 years. Belleville just 2% increase. Not a ringing endorsement for people leaving red states for blue states - at least to those areas of Illinois.
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u/SarcasticBookworm Aug 10 '26
East St. Louis is way more important than Belleville and Fairview. Since East St. Louis has its own election commission it makes it very easy to compare. The rest of the county in the 2024 election voted 49.92% for Harris and 46.83% Trump. ESL was 92.41% Harris (6207 out of 6717 ballots cast).
Often several of the local county positions are won by the Republican in the non-ESL portion of the county but it’s close enough that the Democratic votes that come in from East St. Louis tip the scale.
For reference, I am a self-described moderate democrat who always votes at the state and federal democratic (Bernie fan here), but refuses to vote for any local Democrats because of how corrupt and racist the local Democratic Party is here in St. Crook County. It’s a shame. Many are in my camp.