You mean there are no progressives who live on farms and raise hogs?
Poll: Illinois should be one state, not two
Axios News
Last week we asked readers to weigh in on the movement to split Cook County from the rest of Illinois, a non-binding question on seven county ballots this November.
The intrigue: The vote was close, but a majority of you voted against creating two states.
Context: The state's political divide isn't new, as Cook County Democrats and downstate Republicans have fought over controlling Illinois for years.
In 2022, gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey spent much of his campaign maligning Chicago.
Yes, but: Though this movement seems political in nature, organizers of the ballot referendum say it's not.
What they're saying: "It's more of a cultural divide," Loret Newlin from the Illinois Separation Referendum tells Axios.
"The movement is about the state of Illinois' constitutional violations over representation. We aren't feeling represented in our government."
Reality check: Most Illinois counties vote Republican, but the vast majority of the state's population lives in the Chicago area — which votes overwhelmingly Democratic.
Zoom in: Newlin, who lives in downstate Jasper County, says most people wrongly associate their movement with identity politics, which leads to stereotypes. That's why organizers stay away from the word "secession," instead focusing on the word "separation."
"When people hear the word secession, they don't think of the definition of formal withdrawal, they think of the Confederacy," Newlin tells Axios. "That's definitely not what this is."
Between the lines: Newlin also pushes back on the notion that this movement is motivated by "sour grapes" or Republicans' minority party status. They kept the movement going when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner was in office.
Yes, but: Rauner lived in Winnetka, which is in Cook County.
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