How elections are decided by those who stay home
Nearly 50 years of black state senators representing this area, so should a white person get a shot? Should it be a Republican?
The answer is as easy as A-B-C: Anyone But Clayborne.
The next person representing the 57th Illinois Senate District needs only one litmus test. The person needs to be in it for their desire to serve the public and make sure Springfield hears our voices.
Thank outgoing state Sen. James Clayborne for lowering the bar for that person. Our expectations are considerably less these days, and we’ll settle for someone who doesn’t get high-paying state jobs for his girlfriends as well as for random cell phone salesmen. We’ll settle for someone who doesn’t try to dissolve a school district for punishing his offspring. We’ll settle for someone who can return a phone call and occasionally talk to constituents.
Voters will definitely have choices to make, even with St. Clair Township Supervisor Dave Barnes dropping from the Republican primary.
Democrats are putting up Christoper Belt, a former youth probation officer and Cahokia School Board president.
Republicans have a primary race between Tanya Hildenbrand, an Air Force reservist, and some guy who appears to make his living letting bulls chase him so the cowboys don’t get gored.
Possibly the most important point about this race came from the political science chair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Andrew Theising. He noted that the local population is shifting away from the urban areas along the Mississippi River and becoming more conservative as the suburban areas closer to Scott Air Force Base grow.
This area is no longer a lock for Democrats. The party with the greatest power is now the None of the Above Party, whose members stay home and don’t bother to vote.
“There’s enough people not participating that could change the outcome,” Theising said. “At the end of the day, we are governed by those who show up.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "How elections are decided by those who stay home."