South suburban Dems celebrate national win
GOP supporters may have advantage when it comes to enthusiasm
Enthusiasm for a candidate no doubt affects voter turnout, and turnout decides elections.
Turnout in this year’s presidential election was about the same as itwas in 2016 in several south suburban Cook County townships that traditionally support Democrats. However, people voted in greater numbers in townships that tend to support Republicans compared to
four years ago, unofficial results showed.
“We’ve had a lot of people come out and vote,” Rich Township Democratic Committee
man Calvin Jordan said Thursday night during a victory rally in Matteson. “People have been really concerned about what’s been going on, not only in the
Southland region, but things that take place at the federal level.”
Jordan and a handful of elected officials thanked about 50 Democratic supporters who showed up at an outdoor, drivein celebration in a parking lot at Victory Apostolic Church, 20801 Matteson Ave.
For all the rhetoric about how the 2020 presidential election was a battle over the soul of the nation, turn out was not all that different compared to 2016 in most south suburban townships, unofficial results showed.
Voters in Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Rich and Thornton townships supported the ticket of Joe Biden for president and Kamala Harris for vice president by wide margins. Worth Township voters also supported Bid-
en/Harris, but by a narrower margin.
Voters in Orland and Palos townships narrowly supported President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Lemont Township has fewer voters, but people there supported the Republican ticket by awider margin.
Unofficial vote totals from the Cook County clerk’s office appeared to show patterns consistent with historic voting trends. Turnout is relatively high for presidential contests, but tends to drop off significantly in other elections.
“We helped put Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House,” U.S. Rep. RobinKelly, D-Matteson, told supporters. “We need to keep it up in every race, not just the presidential race. Whether local government, or whether state, or whether it’s the president, we need to be out there all the time, not just sometimes.”
Politicians who spoke during Thursday night’s victory celebration said Black voters in the south suburbs were motivated and inspired to participate in the election. Biden was vice president for eight years with Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president.
Harris is set to become the highest ranking female elected official in American history, aswell as the first Asian American and the first African American vice president. Biden and Harris are set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20.
“Finally, our national nightmare is over,” said state Rep. Debbie MeyersMartin, D-Olympia Fields. “I have to agree with President Obama when he said these last four years have been exhausting. Every single day, some kind of drama.”
Four years ago, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin headlined a get-out-the-vote event in Matteson on the eve of the presidential election. Then-candidate Tammy Duck worth was at the event, just before shewas elected to the U.S. Senate.
Organizers of Thursday’s event said they tried to balance concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic with a desire to celebrate a hard-fought victory.
“We have waited a long time,” Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said as supporters honked horns from inside vehicles in the parking lot. “These four years have been the longest four years I have ever known.”
“But right nowwe are back with adults taking care of the White House,” Chalmers-Currin said. “We are excited to make sure that they bring back what we need to have here in Illinois.”
Rich Township voters backed Biden/Harris over Trump/Pence by a margin of 34,924 to 4,333, according to unofficial results from the clerk’s office. Thatwas very similar to four years ago, when they backed the Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton/ Tim Kaine by a margin of 34,073 to 4,235.
This year, Thornton Township voters backed Biden/Harris over Trump/ Pence by 57,523 to 7,617. In Bloom Township, voters favored the Democratic ticket by a margin of 28,052 to 7,019. In Bremen Township, voters backed Democrats at the top of the ticket by amargin of 30,803 to 15,473, unofficial results showed.
Calumet Township had fewer votes cast, but those who voted favored Democrats by a margin of 6,221 to 581, according to unofficial results.
Orland Township backed Trump/Pence this year by a margin of 26,949 to 24,627. In Palos Township, the Republican ticket bested Democrats by a margin of 13,411 to 12,064. In Lemont Township, voters preferred Republicans by a margin of 7,569 to 4,977.
Biden/ Harris won in Worth Township by a margin of 37,674 over 27,056 for Trump/Pence.
Four years ago, there was talk of diminished enthusiasm for Clinton, especially among Black voters. Trump narrowly won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wiscons in in 2016 but lost all three states this year. Pundits said Black voters in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee made the difference.
Here in the south suburbs, turnout increased significantly in Orland and Palos townships and decreased substantially in Thornton Township, unofficial results showed. Turnout was about the same in Bloom, Bremen and Rich Townships.
Turnout increased by about 7% in Orland and Palos townships and by about 3% in Worth Township, unofficial results showed. Turnout decreased by about 6% in Thornton Township.
If anything, analysis of the unofficial results would seem to indicate enthusiasm was greater in Republican areas of the south and southwest suburbs this election than in traditionally Democratic areas.
Nonetheless, Democrats in Rich Township celebrated a win at the top of the national ticket. About 78 million Americans voted for Biden/Harris, shattering the previous record for most voters cast for a presidential ticket when 69.4 million supported Obama/Biden in 2008. About 72.6million voted for Trump/Pence this year.
“When you look at it as a whole, going forward, we are very happy with Biden/ Harris team,” Jordan said. “When you see the number of votes they got compared to other people in the past, that’s a real testament.”