Post Election Analysis and Our Time for Action

Written by Calvin Lindstrom

Illinois conservatives face serious challenges in the gubernatorial race.

In 2014, Bruce “The Deceiver” Rauner beat Pat Quinn in the race for governor by about 140,000 votes. Quinn won only one county: Cook County. Rauner won in large measure by deceiving Illinoisans–including many conservatives–with his dishonest campaign promises. By the time he ran for reelection in 2018, Rauner had been found out and, as a consequence, had little support. He received nearly 58,000 fewer votes in the 2018 election and was trounced by J. B. Pritzker.

Because of his promotion of all sorts of evil, Pritzker was able to energize the Democrat base, thereby beating Rauner by over 700,000 votes in the 2018 race. While Quinn won only one county in 2014, Pritzker won at least 16 counties in 2018 (of 102 total counties in Illinois).

Here was the key for Pritzker over Rauner: He won Cook County by 836,138 votes. Fifty-one percent of his total votes came from just Cook County alone! If you throw in the following 6 counties: DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, Champaign, and St. Clair counties, Pritzker received more votes than Rauner did statewide. In fact, Pritzker could have given the 611,791 votes he received in the rest of Illinois and donated them to Rauner and still won.

In the 2020 presidential election, Donald J. Trump received 260,608 more votes than Rauner did in those 7 counties. Of course, in a presidential election, the voter turnout is much higher which may account for the discrepancy. However, what is interesting is that in a non-presidential  election year, Pritzker still received 32,855 more votes in those 7 counties than Trump did.

Therefore, two things must happen if GOP nominee Senator Darren Bailey is to beat Pritzker. He must get as many votes as Trump did and hope that the turnout for Democrats decreases by 5 percent or more or to make up the rest of the difference downstate. This will be a challenge for Bailey.

In the recent primary election, Bailey won an impressive 100 counties out of 102. However, in Cook County, Bailey received 62,037 votes compared to Pritzker’s 430,407. Bailey was also dwarfed by Pritzker in the 7 biggest counties. However, Bailey faced more challengers in his GOP primary than Pritzker did in his Democrat primary. In fact, Pritzker and his primary challenger Beverly Miles received only 20,553 more votes statewide than did Bailey and all his challengers in the primary. That is a much smaller gap than in 2018 when you compare the primary votes.

To win in November, Bailey must spend the bulk of his time leading up to the election in the Chicagoland area. He must make significant inroads into the African-American and Hispanic voting communities as well as try to get some support from suburban women on crime and economic issues.

Would you be willing to help Illinois Family Action do some of the vital work to Get Out The Vote for Darren Bailey, Kathy Salvi, and other pro-life candidates running in November?

After the primary election, our funds have been drained significantly. We need your help to replenish our resources so that we can tap into our network of churches not only to get out the vote, but also and especially to get out the early vote.

Now is the time to go All In.

Pundits are all suggesting that a “red wave” is coming in this election cycle, pointing to the low approval ratings of President Joe Biden, the outrageous rate of inflation, rampant crime on the streets, and blatant indoctrination of students in public schools. It would be foolish for us not to take advantage of the discontent among voters to offer them alternative policies and promote conservative candidates who will work to get our state and nation back on the right track.

This isn’t going to happen without fervent prayer and a dedicated, fully funded effort. We need your help for both. Can we count on you?

Click HERE to go to our secure online giving portal, or feel free to mail a check to:

Illinois Family Action
P.O. Box 93
Mokena, IL 60448

Donations to Illinois Family Action (IFA) are not tax-deductible under IRS guidelines.

Pastor Calvin Lindstrom has served as the pastor of the Church of Christian Liberty in Arlington Heights since 2006 and has worked in Christian education for over 23 years. He is blessed to be a husband and father of six children. He is also a long time board member for Illinois Family Action.