Ready, set, go! Politicians gearing up for 2024 races descend on Illinois State Fair

The next two days at the Illinois State Fair will feature political rallies led by both political parties as the countdown to next year's election season marches forward. Democrats will kick off action on Wednesday with Governor's Day and Republicans follow on Thursday.

Outside of the fair, the parties will hold meetings in downtown Springfield including the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch at the Bank of Springfield Center. There, Illinois Democrats will be joined by guest speaker U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, starting at 9 a.m. before heading to the fairgrounds.

Republican's time on the Director's Lawn will be preceded with several events, among them the Republican County Chairs' Association president reception on Wednesday before a joint meeting with RCCA and the State Central Committee Thursday morning at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel.

For Democrats and Republicans alike, the fair days and meetings provide opportunities to build up its campaign finance war chests heading into 2024. No statewide candidates will be featured in next year's election, but votes for president, U.S. Congress, the Illinois House of Representatives and a handful of state Senate seats among other local races will take place.

The political days fall just more than seven months away from the March primary, but also less than three weeks from when candidates can begin circulating nomination papers. Congressional, state legislature and other local candidates begin this process on Sept. 5. Presidential candidates start on Oct. 27.

All candidates have until Dec. 4 to file the papers with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

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A mini-Chicago

Winning out over Atlanta and New York City, Chicago will be the home site for the 2024 Democratic National Convention where the party is expected to collect its might around presumptive nominee President Joe Biden.

An array of sources suggest the estimated economic impact for the DNC could bring upwards of $200 million to the city in addition to 50,000 visitors. Illinois Democrats can also expect a payday with events in Springfield although likely not nearly as significant.

The final picture of dollars coming to the association likely will not be known until October, IDCCA Executive Director Dan Kovats told The State Journal-Register on Tuesday but is described as the association's largest annual fundraiser.

Tickets for the brunch range from $60 for a virtual ticket to $68,500 to secure two tables with 10 seats each and can be purchased online at https://ildccabrunch.org/.

What is known is the association has raked in about $146,000 in campaign funding since July, according to ISBOE. Most of the money has come from political action committees associated with prominent names in the party such as Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield.

The Trump question

Illinois Republicans have their work cut out for them, not holding power in any of the state's three branches of government in addition to a smaller pool of political backers for major campaign funding. The state fair represents an opportunity for the party to make up ground in the funding battle and later support its candidates come election time.

Who the party chooses to back for the White House has not been clear at this point, but it could have to put its weight behind a familiar name. National polls indicate if the presidential election were to take place today, it would be a 2020 rematch of Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Already not a popular figure in Illinois, losing the state by more than 15 points in both 2016 and 2020, Trump is coming off his fourth indictment this time for allegedly tinkering with 2020 election results in Georgia. The indictments of the former commander-in-chief have prompted varying responses from GOP lawmakers in the state, some of which have pledged continued support to Trump and others to say move on.

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, has claimed investigations led by the U.S. Department of Justice into Trump have been politically motivated.

"The American people will not tolerate this attack from Biden's DOJ on our electoral process or our system of justice, where justice is supposed to be blind," she said in a statement earlier this month.

The party's 2022 gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, rose in prominence among Republicans before the primary thanks in part to an endorsement from the former president. Still, he and other candidates speaking at last year's fair were mum on Trump and instead focused on what they described as failures by Democrats to control crime and spending.

That backing from Trump, in the end, proved in some ways to bite Bailey in the general election where Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker won a second term with comfortable margins.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Dems, GOP look to sparkle 2024 excitement at Illinois State Fair