DuPage County in a blue state?

For the first time in anyone's recollection, Democratic voters have outnumbered their GOP counterparts at DuPage County polls.

Nearly 55 percent of all voters pulled Democratic ticket ballots Tuesday, according to the DuPage County Election Commission data. More than 132,000 residents voted Democrat to the GOP's 109,132 voters. In all, 242,917 primary ballots were cast.

The highest Democratic percentage of primary voters in the county before this year was in 2004 when they made up 42 percent of the vote. The low point came in 1990 when only 11.5 percent voted Democratic. Presidential primary years routinely draw more Democratic voters to the polls than off-years, according to the data.

Bob Peickert, chairman of the Democratic organization Operation: Turn DuPage Blue, said his party has finally broken the Republican party's "stranglehold" on the county.

"It's exciting to see the election results, but we still have our work cut out for us," Peickert said.

State Sen. Dan Cronin, an Elmhurst Republican and county GOP chairman, attributed the large number of Democratic voters to two things.

"The hometown native Illinoisan story with both Hillary (Clinton) and (Barack) Obama is persuasive to a lot of people," Cronin said. "And I know scores of Republicans who pulled Democratic ballots and voted for Hillary because they think she'll be a better candidate for the Republican nominee to face in November."

Peickert scoffed at Cronin's explanation.

"I find that really amusing that he knows that many Republicans that would have done that," Peickert said. "I don't think statistics support Cronin's excuse. It's certainly not because 30,000 Republicans got together and decided to vote for Hillary."

Cronin refused to label DuPage voters as strictly Republican.

"There is a healthy independent attitude or sentiment among DuPage County voters," he said. "I think this will be more significant if it happens in the fall."

Peickert said Tuesday's showing was not a fluke. He said voters are disenfranchised with the national Republican party as well as local GOP leaders.

"What we're hearing from people is that they're fed up with how the DuPage County Board has dealt with this budget deficit," he said.

Cronin said his party has a "proud tradition" in DuPage County.

"Why would anybody in DuPage County want to turn blue?" he said. "Why in God's name would they want DuPage to look like Cook County or Springfield? Why on Earth would they want that?"

DuPage voter turnout since 1980

Year Turnout Ballot GOP Dems 1980 46% 126,981 101,681 25,164 1984 37% 121,476 75,612 43,514 1988 44% 141,029 92,893 46,157 1992 50% 178,255 111,030 63,288 1996 38% 145,830 114,894 26,417 2000 27% 129,570 96,863 27,576 2004 25% 150,642 86,836 63,806 2008* 44% 242,917 109,132 132,434 *unofficial results -------------- Source: DuPage County Election Commission