More suburban voters pick Democrat ballots

Spurred on by two presidential candidates with local ties and a primary that actually meant something, suburban voters were picking Democratic ballots in potentially historic fashion Tuesday.

Across the region, voters were consistently pulling more Democratic ballots than Republican in an area once considered a GOP Eden.

Early results showed nearly 30,000 more Democratic ballots than Republican cast in both Will and Lake Counties. In DuPage County, nearly 16,000 more Democratic ballots were pulled.

Kane was the only suburban county where Democrats weren't clearly favored. And there it was essentially even.

State Sen. Terry Link, Lake County's Democratic Party chairman, said early afternoon numbers in some precincts there were already exceeded turnout in 2004.

Nearly twice as many Democratic ballots than Republican were requested in Lake County's early voting period.

"I think Senator Obama deserves a massive amount of credit for the enthusiasm behind his candidacy," Link said.

Looking ahead to November, Tuesday's turnout could spell more bad news for the GOP.

After the 2004 elections, the Daily Herald reviewed 20 years worth of voter data to find not a single suburban township was voting more Republican. In fact, the region's voters had swung Democratic by nearly 15 percentage points.

Capping this shift had been Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate bid that saw him carry every suburban county and all but 10 of the state's 102 counties.

Since then the area has witnessed increased Democratic success.

Two years ago, four Democratic state senators won suburban districts previously held by Republicans.

Last year, Schaumburg state Rep. Paul Froehlich abandoned the Republican Party he'd led in the Northwest suburbs and joined Democrats.

Other Republican stalwarts have found themselves increasingly engaged in political footsie with Democratic powers.

Kirk Dillard, the former GOP chairman in DuPage County, is featured in a Barack Obama ad. And DuPage County Republican Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom turned to state Democrats for help getting his county's sales tax increased.

All this could have long-range implications on Republican's ability to compete statewide.

For decades the GOP formula for success has been to hope for depressed Democratic turnout in Chicago and Cook County and then make up if not exceed the stagger in the suburbs.