Eye On Illinois: Seeking, holding elected office come with share of downsides

Can we get to 354?

Thursday’s column expressed a desire for at least two qualified general election candidates in every legislative district. At the most that would be 354 people hoping to serve in the General Assembly’s 118 House and 59 Senate districts.

Not every Senate district is up for grabs every two years, but they are whenever a year ends in two. In 2022, we had 137 Democrats and 143 Republicans seeking office. That’s up from 2012, with 134 Democrats and 119 Republicans. In 2002, it was 146 Democrats and 133 Republicans. But all those totals are a long way from 354.

Those figures also exclude other parties. Thursday’s column drew a response from a Fox River Grove resident who has been involved with the American Solidarity Party, which is running a qualified write-in presidential ticket in the state’s most populous counties. He added “ASP has a platform of principles which potential candidates could use to guide their practical decisions if elected. An aid to encourage them to run, whether for a partisan or nonpartisan position or volunteer for a local government committee.”

Several other parties have been active at some point in the current election cycle: Libertarian, Constitution, Green, Working Class, Greener Peace United and independents. References to minority parties should come with a disclaimer acknowledging Illinois Republicans and Democrats embrace rules favoring their established power. And smaller parties might build from the ground up with local organizing instead of swooping in when federal offices are involved.

Both are fair enough points that warrant independent examination. Those arguments also exist within the context of the perpetual push to remove politics from the decennial process of redrawing political maps, quadrennial complaints about the Electoral College and the quieter – but equally valid – push to uncap the size of the U.S. House of Representatives so each district is closer in population to the proportions from 100 years ago when we settled on 435.

Then consider state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, who on Wednesday delivered a victim impact statement for the sentencing of a DeKalb man behind a July assassination threat. The entire statement is worth reading (tinyurl.com/KeicherStatement) but consider this:

“I would be lying if I said this incident has not affected my sense of safety in seeking to serve my community in elected office, but I also fear far more that this trend of violence and threats will have a chilling effect on others who would otherwise seek to serve the community in elected office themselves.”

Elected office isn’t always thankless. General Assembly work pays well! But campaigning and serving aren’t free of downsides. Even drawbacks less significant than death threats can be discouraging. Getting to 354 may be a pipe dream.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.