Voters in Johnson County chose GOP candidates in every partisan race down the ballot in November -- an electoral sweep that the county’s Republican Party hopes will propel it to new successes in 2017.
“We’re in a unique situation,” Kenneth Wiggs, chairman of the county GOP, told the Southeast Illinois News. “We lean heavily Republican.”
Johnson County is considered largely rural, but as the home to some correctional facilities, the county has a number of residents who work for the state or have retired from positions funded by the state government.
In November, county residents who usually don’t vote did so as a result of interest in the presidential election, Wiggs said.
“I believe that the successes at the federal level -- meaning Donald Trump -- did help some of our local candidates,” he said.
Wiggs pointed to burgeoning GOP vote totals in the county’s November turnout, noting that Democrat Andrew Wilson lost by more than 800 votes in the state’s attorney contest to Republican Tambra Cain, even though Wilson spent a lot of time and money on his November campaign.
County voters also helped give Republican Dale Fowler the edge in the District 59 state senate race over veteran incumbent Democrat Gary Forby, he said. In the previous election, Forby carried Johnson County, but in November Fowler racked up 64 percent of the county vote.
In the race for 118th District representative, Democrat Brandon Phelps prevailed, but his GOP opponent, Jason Kasiar, succeeded in getting the majority of Johnson County’s votes, Wiggs said.
The Johnson County GOP is still working on developing strategies for 2017.
“We realize that we got a boost from Donald Trump’s election, but we are looking to see what we can do to keep voters who swung over in November,” Wiggs said.
In the county’s spring elections, he said the party would be eyeing school board seats as it hopes to steer conservatives into such positions.
“They are nonpartisan, but they are a taxing body,” Wiggs said. “We’re coming to find that you need to pay close attention to those races.”
At the local level, the GOP will be ensuring that people are familiar with Speaker Mike Madigan’s positions, as well as the party’s view that Madigan has been playing politics rather than serving the people of Illinois.
Though Wiggs sees little chance of real progress on state budget negations, he is hopeful that -- as the national economy expands with Trump at the helm -- the local economy will pick up, as well. County residents are especially concerned about national economic issues as well as national security, he said.
Johnson County is one of 17 in the state that operate under the commission form of county government, rather than the township model, meaning that multiple elected officials oversee county operations, with no single executive in charge.
Wiggs expects plenty of excitement within the county party this year as it works to expand its membership and solidify gains achieved in the November election.
“More people are coming on board,” he said, and they will stay with the party if it delivers.
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