Last Republicans standing: How the Donald Trump effect grew Democrats’ suburban footprint in Illinois

Last Republicans standing: How the Donald Trump effect grew Democrats’ suburban footprint in Illinois.

Tuesday’s election surge for Democrats not only sacked prominent Republican politicians nationwide, but caused a ripple effect for suburban GOP staples.

The tide against President Donald Trump’s policies ousted myriad moderate and MAGA Republican state lawmakers from the region, experts on both sides agreed.

Collateral damage also trickled down to local races, with several contests trending Democrat in traditionally conservative McHenry County.

DuPage County’s GOP contingent shrank from six to one.

The Cook County Board is set to go completely blue.

What happened in Chicago suburban midterm elections on Tuesday?

“I believe (voters) were thinking about Donald Trump and the White House,” said state Sen. Seth Lewis, a moderate Republican from Bartlett who lost Tuesday to Democrat Ben McAdams.

“And that’s all the majority was thinking about, and they took it out on everyone.

It’s disappointing — that the hatred for one person tainted the good that other people contributed,” Lewis said.

McHenry County Democratic organizer Kristina Zahorik offered a different view.

“In regard to the suburbs, it’s a similar story.

An absolute rejection of the Trump regime, coupled with strong candidates that reflect their districts who were in the field talking to and listening to voters,” Zahorik said.

Other Illinois Senate Republicans suffering defeat were Sen. Craig Lewis of McHenry and Sen. Darby Hills of Barrington Hills.

Hills engaged in a fiery battle with Democratic Rep. Nabeela Syed of Inverness.

The district of outgoing moderate GOP Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles also went blue.

The Republican wilt continued in the House.

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills lost to a Democrat.

State Rep. Jennifer Sanalitro of Hanover Park lost to a Democrat.

Rep. Dan Ugaste of Geneva lost to a Democrat.

In the once-reliably Republican 47th District, Democrat Erica Bray-Parker of Wheaton took the seat vacated by Republican Amy Grant.

Election tallies are unofficial and reflect decisions by The Associated Press.

College of DuPage political science Professor Melissa Mouritsen thinks the shellacking is about more than Trump pushback.

“I think there’s two equally important parts.

One is that it was a resounding rebuke of MAGA politics.

The suburbs said, ‘This is not us,’” Mouritsen said.

Two, “we cannot underestimate how hard people on the ground were working and have been pounding the pavement.”

Some Republicans who tried to gin up the vote with warnings about a Socialist takeover didn’t get the public’s mood, she added.

“A lot of people” simply did not buy the message, Mouritsen said.

The suburban shift has been building for years.

Chicago’s collar counties — DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will — were once Republican strongholds that reliably delivered victories for the party up and down the ballot.

Demographic changes, including an influx of younger and more diverse voters, have gradually eroded that advantage.

Trump’s polarizing presence accelerated the trend.

In 2016, Trump lost suburban Cook County by a wide margin.

In 2020, he lost it by even more.

In 2024, suburban voters again rejected him in favor of the Democratic nominee.

Tuesday’s midterm results suggest that pattern is now embedded in down-ballot races that used to be insulated from presidential politics.

Moderate Republicans who tried to distance themselves from Trump found little shelter.

Seth Lewis, the defeated state senator, had positioned himself as a pragmatic legislator willing to work across the aisle.

It did not matter.

“The hatred for one person tainted the good that other people contributed,” he said.

MAGA-aligned Republicans fared no better.

Darby Hills, who ran on a Trump-aligned platform, lost her Senate seat to a Democrat in a district that had been represented by Republicans for years.

The same dynamic played out in House races.

Democrats picked up seats in districts that had not elected a Democrat in decades.

In McHenry County, where Republicans once held every countywide office, Democratic candidates won several local races.

Kristina Zahorik, the county’s Democratic organizer, said the results reflect years of grassroots organizing.

“Strong candidates that reflect their districts who were in the field talking to and listening to voters,” she said.