Tucked inside The News-Sun last week was the voter information guide for this month’s primary election. It is lamentable reading.
Not for the information in the guide provided by the Lake County Clerk’s Office, which includes candidate listings, polling places and other ballot notices. It was dismal for the lack of options voters have in the primary on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Early voting is already underway at various county locations.
Whether Democrat or Republican, there are few races to attract voters to the polls. As we grouse about the actions of some attacking American democratic institutions, voting is one way to overcome tyranny. One-party rule doesn’t help in that endeavor.
For those of Republican persuasion, the coming election should be dispiriting for a party that once ruled the Lake County political roost. In the home county of state GOP Chair Kathy Salvi of rural Mundelein, it should be downright depressing for party regulars.
The party has no primary candidates listed in several Illinois House districts within county boundaries and no candidate in the 30th Senate District, a seat currently occupied by Democrat incumbent Adriane Johnson of Buffalo Grove. Of the four countywide offices, Republicans have posted only two candidates: The treasurer’s race and for sheriff.
It is at the Lake County Board-level where the party truly shows its continuing minority status in the county. Of the 12 seats up in the Nov. 3 general election, the party has primary candidates in but two districts, and they are unopposed.
Despite a dearth of primary hopefuls, Lake County Republican Chair Keith Brin of Highland Park, a former county circuit court clerk, can still beat the bushes for candidates to eventually, maybe, place on the Nov. 3 ballot once primary races are determined. That approach, though, puts the party’s November candidates behind Democrat opponents in name recognition, fundraising and operational undertakings.
Statewide, the party has plenty of battles at the top of the primary ticket. Same with Democrats, where in some U.S. House districts there is a plethora of hopefuls, with 15 candidates running in the Ninth Congressional District, which takes in a bit of Lake County.
In one of the few local Democratic contests, incumbent U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, faces a primary challenge in the 10th Congressional District from Morgan Coghill, a progressive from Mundelein.
Also, there is a crowded primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Dick Durbin of Springfield. Television viewers have been inundated since the beginning of the new year with commercials for the most-heavily funded of the 10 Senate candidates on the Democratic side of the ballot.
Yet, Lake County voters opting for a Democratic ballot on March 17, will find their primary choices slim. There are competitions in only one state House district and in two County Board districts.
In all other races, candidates, usually entrenched and established incumbents, are unopposed. With such options, it is no wonder primary voters may take a pass because of the lack of picks and stay home on Election Day.
Primary elections, especially in off-presidential years, are known for low turnouts, leaving the election of unopposed insiders to continue their hold on party apparatus. While we eye the actions of federal officials, it is local officials who have more control over citizens’ daily lives.
In the March 2024 primary election, a mere 12% of Lake County’s 467,044 registered voters bothered to show up at the polls, according to the county clerk’s archived election data. That was during a presidential voting year.
In the general election, a whopping 70% of voters cast ballots. In the presidential contest between former President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, county voters went with the vice president overwhelmingly, nearly 60% to Trump’s nearly 39%.
In the 2022 primary election held June 28, 18.3% of registered Lake County voters went to the polls. Some may recall the lateness of that primary was caused by the delay of 2020 U.S. Census data due to the coronavirus pandemic. Population numbers, done every decade, are needed to map out congressional and state election districts.
In the general election in November 2022, 49.7% of registered county voters cast ballots. Most overwhelming favored re-electing Gov. JB Pritzker, 60%, over Republican Darren Bailey, who received 36.6%. Pritzker leads the Democratic ballot again this year, running for a third four-year term, while Bailey is running once again after his party’s nomination in a five-person contest.
While there might be slim pickings for the average voter to head to the polls on March 17, candidates are spending money to get their messages out. Surely, they would appreciate your votes.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.com. X @sellenews.
