How to Win Elections
The April 1 election was disheartening for many who voted and campaigned. Many Republicans lost seats they’ve held for years. Even though we generated more Republican votes for a consolidated local election than we did four years ago, the Democrats did too! (The voter participation rate rose from 13% in 2021 to 15% in 2025.) When numbers are this small, it’s easier for Democrats to prevail. Why is that?
Here’s the answer in the simplest terms. Democrats have enormous war chests, they have the support of unions who tell their members how to vote, they are able to pay their “volunteers” and they have a reliable vote-by-mail voter base that makes it easy to ballot harvest. Yes, ballot harvesting is legal in Illinois.
Republican voters, unfortunately, and to our great disadvantage, reject the idea of vote-by-mail, but Democrats embrace it. A mail-in ballot is a reminder to vote, like a utility bill that shows up in your mailbox reminding you that payment is due. Once it’s in your hands, you feel an obligation to do something with it. This strategy works well when voter turnout is low. In fact, the stats show that over 80% of people who get a mail in ballot vote. They can call you with information on the candidates and even dispatch a runner to pick up your ballot. The Democrats have an army of paid folks to track and collect the ballots. Republicans do not.
If you prefer to vote in person, you still can. Just bring your mail-in ballot to your polling place and tell the election judges you want to vote in-person. They will accept your mail-in ballot, mark “spoiled” across the front, and give you a card to use the voting machine. It’s as simple as that.
Mark Battnick, who served in the Illinois General Assembly from 2015 to 2023, won close elections by using the vote-by-mail strategy. “We won’t win elections unless we play by the current rules and compete in every part of the process.”
In a consolidated local election, Republican candidates have little to no money for campaigning, just the goodwill and support from the volunteers within STRO. For greater effect, they pool their money and run as a slate. STRO supports their fundraisers, sends precinct captains out to inform voters, and finds volunteers to distribute their campaign literature and make phone calls. But competing in the precincts with paid Democrat “volunteers” and union workers is a real challenge.
As a loyal Republican, you can donate to a candidate. Every candidate has either a website or a Facebook page where you can get information on how to donate to their campaign. You can also visit the STRO office and drop off a check. We may not have a war chest full of cash, or unions to promote our candidates, or an army of paid ballot chasers, but we have won elections in the past. We can do it again if we take advantage of the process, like the Democrats do.
|
