Election 2022: Gun Rights Take Beating in State of IL

Illinois voters have chosen to double down on “more of the same” state government if results as of 11pm are any indicator.

JB Pritzker coasted to re-election by something like 13 points.  It wasn’t even close.  We love Darren Bailey, but his campaign didn’t resonate with everyday Illinoisans in Chicago and the suburbs.   And downstate Republicans and gun owners didn’t get motivated enough to take the time and trouble to vote.

The US Senate race was similarly lopsided in re-electing the back-bencher US Senator Tammi Cluckworth.  Kathy Salvi remains a good person, but her campaign didn’t hit the home runs needed to win the election.

In the US House races, no big surprises there, aside from Esther Joy King not winning her Congressional race.  That one should have gone to King, but big ad spending for Sorenson tipped the scales.

In the Illinois House, it looks as though pro-gun Republicans have lost a few seats.  As of 11pm, it looks like the Republicans will have gone further into the super-minority status under the inept bordering on incompetent leadership of “LEADER” Durkin.  By my count, Durkin’s caucus has fallen to under 40.  38 at my first count, in fact.  That could fluctuate up or even down a couple as the last precincts are counted.  That’s down from 45 currently serving.  Nice job, “Leader.”

With “leadership” like that, the GOP deserves more drubbings.

But then again, if you run people like Scott Preston (R) downstate who came out supporting gun control in mailers, why should pro-gun folks bother voting for that?  Given a choice between a Democrat and a Republican pretending to be a Democrat, voters are gonna pick the genuine article.

An even bigger factor:  Pritzker dropped tens of millions of dollars (well over $100m on his race and he dumped millions on other down-ticket races too).  The cop-hating, criminal-adoring Chung woman won the race against fellow gun control supporter Scott Preston in Bloomington.  With candidates like lil’ Scottie, she’ll be there for a while.

In the Illinois Senate, it looks as though Republicans might actually pick up a couple of seats to 20 of the 59 total, taking them out of super-minority status.  Then again, the Democrats aren’t done counting the votes yet…  And a couple of that 20 are only ahead by 1-2%.  So 18 again is very much a possibility.

In short, gun owners and Republicans didn’t get motivated to turn out in anything but ordinary numbers.  And ordinary numbers mean at least a 10 point loss given Chicago and the suburbs’ population density and political leanings there and the exodus of productive people out of the nation’s arguably most corrupt state. 

Get used to it taking a beating at election time.

So we get two more years of the same stuff, different day.  More talk of gun control, and all the rest that Pritzker and company have given us these past four years…  the corruption, the authoritarianism, the anti-police, pro-criminal legislation and everything else.

At least we have the courts.  

Thanks heavens for the Bruen decision.  Without it, we wouldn’t have any guns left.