GOVERNMENT OF ILLINOIS

The state 'government of Illinois' is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from traditions cultivated during the state's frontier era.^[1] The capital of Illinois is located in Springfield. As codified in the state constitution, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is led by the Governor of Illinois. Legislative functions are given to the Illinois General Assembly, comprising the 118-member Illinois State House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois State Senate. The judiciary is headed by the state supreme court, which oversees the lower appelate courts and circuit courts. An amended was approved by a special referendum, and went into effect on December 15, 1970.

Contents

History

Departments

Politics

Statewide Offices

Presidential election results

See also

References

History

The first capitol building was in Kaskaskia. It was a two-story brick building that rented for $4 per day. Vandalia became the capitol in 1820, and was the site of three capital buildings. In 1839, voters selected Springfield as the new state capital city, a distinction it holds to this day.

Departments

The government of Illinois has numerous departments, including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Arts Council.

Politics

In the past, Illinois was a critical swing state leaning marginally towards to the Republican Party. This has changed and the state has supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1992. John Kerry easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 11 percentage points with 54.8% of the vote. Traditionally, Chicago, East Saint Louis, and the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities tend to vote heavily Democratic, along with the Central Illinois population centers of Peoria, Champaign-Urbana and Decatur. It should be noted, however, that in the 2004 Presidential Election, Kerry won Peoria County by only 94 votes. Rural districts tend to vote more heavily Republican, and the southern half of the state has historically tended Republican since the 1920s. The Republican Party was strongest in southern Illinois during the sixties and seventies when Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford won all areas of southern Illinois, with the exception of East St. Louis, three to one.

Statewide Offices

Rod R. Blagojevich {D} was elected Governor in 2002, replacing George H. Ryan. Blagojevich was relected in 2006, defeating Repubican state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
As of 2007, all statewide offices are held by Democrats, making Illinois the only Midwestern state with this distinction. The Democrats also have a majority of Illinois congressional delegation and majorities in both houses of Illinois's state legislature.

Presidential election results

'Presidential elections results'

Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	44.48% ''2,345,946	'54.82%' ''2,891,550
2000	42.58% ''2,019,421	'54.60%' ''2,589,026
1996	36.81% ''1,587,021	'54.32%' ''2,341,744
1992	34.34% ''1,734,096	'48.58%' '' ''2,453,350
1988	'50.69%' ''2,310,939	48.60% ''2,215,940
1984	'56.17%' ''2,707,103	43.30% ''2,086,499
1980	'49.65%' ''2,359,049	41.72% ''1,981,413
1976	'50.10%' ''2,364,269	48.13% ''2,271,295
1972	'59.03%' ''2,788,179	40.51% ''1,913,472
1968	'47.08%' ''2,174,774	44.15% ''2,039,814
1964	40.53% ''1,905,946	'59.47%' ''2,796,833
1960	49.80% ''2,368,988	'49.98%' ''2,377,846

See also

★ 2006 Election for statewide offices in the State of Illinois

★ Illinois

References

1. Wikisource. .