Election-year population politics at play in Illinois
Send a link to a friend
[May 24, 2022] By
Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – A recent update on
overcount and undercount estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau is
playing into Illinois' election-year politics.
Last year, the census said Illinois lost 18,000 people in the past
decade. That led to Illinois losing a seat in Congress because of
continued population decline.
Last week, the Census said a survey indicates it undercounted Illinois
by nearly 2% and found possible counting mistakes in 13 other states.
Gov. J.B. Pritzer’s office said that means the state grew above 13
million for the first time in state history.
The incumbent Democratic governor’s reelection campaign used news of the
survey to go after Republicans critical of the state’s high taxes and
unfriendly business environment they say have pushed jobs and people out
of the state.
Every single Republican running for governor has built a campaign on
fraudulent claims badmouthing Illinois and must face the truth: due to
Governor Pritzker’s strong leadership, Illinois has a positive financial
outlook, an influx of residents and, for the first time in a long time,
is on the rise,” said campaign spokesperson Natalie Edelstein.
The campaign proclaims Illinois has grown to an “unprecedented 13
million.”
But the Census website doesn’t reflect a population of 13 million. It
says Illinois’ population is 12.7 million.
Former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, who’s running in the Republican primary
for governor, took to Twitter to criticize Pritzker’s characterization.
[to top of second column]
|
“Not sure whether it is due to mendacity or confusion, but JB Pritzker
is once again misleading the people of Illinois,” the Waterloo
Republican said on Twitter. “The US Census Bureau DID NOT revise our
population upward – that's not what the new report says.”
Asked about the report at a stop in Springfield Saturday, Aurora Mayor
Richard Irvin said he’s hearing people want to leave because of high
taxes and more.
“They’re talking about leaving because they're tired of crime, and
they're tired of corruption,” Irvin said. “So, what I’m hearing as I
drive around the state is people are sick and tired of what’s going on
and thinking about leaving and wanting to leave unless some change
happens and we’re going to be those change agents in the state of
Illinois.”
Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, who’s also looking for the
GOP nomination, doesn’t trust the census numbers.
“Why all the help wanted signs … why is the state even having trouble
finding people to go to work,” Bailey said on a Facebook video. “I’m
gonna tell you something, it’s an election year, and there are election
year gimmicks out there and do I trust government, even at the federal
level, with this information? Absolutely not.”
In addition to Irvin, Bailey and Schimpf, also running for the
Republican nomination for governor are businessman Gary Rabine,
entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan, and attorney Max Solomon. Early voting for
the June 28 primary election is underway.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other
issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning
broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of
Springfield. |