Illinois Driftless Area

[HoosierPoliticalJunkie]

Why has the area on the Illinois/Iowa border  trended so Democrat in recent years?  The area went solidly for Landon in '36 and a lot of counties in that area voted Goldwater in '64.  It was one of the few rural strongholds in the Great Lakes Region at that time.

Now, it's one of the few rural areas that votes D..........what changed?

[Sol]

Well, that area is home to a substantial urban area, in the form of the Quad cities.

[minionofmidas]

Well, that area is home to a substantial urban area, in the form of the Quad cities.

Rockford is yet another major city of Republican ancestry.

[Torie]

I am not sure I agree with the premise. Over time, Whiteside in Illinois has trended strongly Dem for some reason, and to a lessor extent, Clinton across the river in Iowa. Dubuque on the other hand has trended Pub. One thing that does characterize the area is that it is quite "dovish." There is next to no military presence there, other than the Rock Island Arsenal, and the area is quite heavily German Catholic, with a dovish-isolationist streak. The area trended strongly to McGovern, and to Dukakis, as a result, and away from Bush in 2004.

My mother grew up in Davenport by the way. While Reno hyperbolically called itself the biggest little city in America, surely the Quad Cities are the smallest bigger city/metro area in America. It has maybe 350,000 people, and yet there is no there, there. I remember in college taking my grandmother to the fanciest restaurant in Davenport, and when I asked for the wine list, the waiter asked if I wanted red or white wine.

[freepcrusher]

well one thing I've wondered is why they kept electing Don Manzullo who was basically a less outspoken Jesse Helms. He seemed like a bad fit for that district.

[Mr.Phips]

well one thing I've wondered is why they kept electing Don Manzullo who was basically a less outspoken Jesse Helms. He seemed like a bad fit for that district.

It was still a GOP leaning district with not much of a Dem bench outside Rockford.  Strangely enough, he won in 1992 by beating a one term Dem who had been the first Dem to hold that seat since the Civil War.  He was likely helped by the addition of McHenry county and the subtraction of some Dem tending counties in the Quad Cities media market.

[Torie]

well one thing I've wondered is why they kept electing Don Manzullo who was basically a less outspoken Jesse Helms. He seemed like a bad fit for that district.

McHenry when Manzullo got in was a hyper Pub county. It's trended pretty strongly Dem since then, along with the other Chicago collar counties.

[jimrtex]

My mother grew up in Davenport by the way. While Reno hyperbolically called itself the biggest little city in America, surely the Quad Cities are the smallest bigger city/metro area in America. It has maybe 350,000 people, and yet there is no there, there. I remember in college taking my grandmother to the fanciest restaurant in Davenport, and when I asked for the wine list, the waiter asked if I wanted red or white wine.

Maybe they had two lists.

[Torie]

My mother grew up in Davenport by the way. While Reno hyperbolically called itself the biggest little city in America, surely the Quad Cities are the smallest bigger city/metro area in America. It has maybe 350,000 people, and yet there is no there, there. I remember in college taking my grandmother to the fanciest restaurant in Davenport, and when I asked for the wine list, the waiter asked if I wanted red or white wine.

Maybe they had two lists.

LOL.

[Benj]

well one thing I've wondered is why they kept electing Don Manzullo who was basically a less outspoken Jesse Helms. He seemed like a bad fit for that district.

McHenry when Manzullo got in was a hyper Pub county. It's trended pretty strongly Dem since then, along with the other Chicago collar counties.

McHenry was still the second-most Republican county in northern Illinois in 2012, behind only Ogle.