The 2024 presidential election resulted in
Kamala Harris carrying the state of
Illinois, a historic
Democratic stronghold in the Midwest. Illinois has not been won by a
Republican candidate at the presidential level since
1988 as a result of most of the population being concentrated in the
Chicago metropolitan area. However, Illinois took a massive 6.1% shift towards the right from
2020. This rightward shift was a result of Republicans making ground in the highly populated
collar counties combined with low voter turn-out for Democrats in
Cook County, home of
Chicago. Despite Illinois shifting rightward, Harris became the first Democratic nominee to win over 60% of the vote in
Champaign County, Illinois (home to the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Harris also won
McLean County (home to
Illinois State University) despite losing the presidential election. Both counties shifted slightly leftward, highlighting Harris's gains among White women with college degrees, who according to exit polls voted for Harris by a margin of 58-41%. Illinois's shift represents broader trends across the country with
Donald Trump making improvements with key-demographics, such as
Hispanics. Donald Trump's improvement among most demographics can be attributed to people's concern regarding the state of the economy and the inflation rate. == See also ==