Democrats try to retake Illinois district won over by Trump
Decreasing enrollment means jobs aren't filled when employees quit or retire. A local furniture store that used to sell a truckload of mattresses to college students from its parking lot each August hasn't come close to that level of sales in years. A four-lane highway between
"We can't sell our houses," retired university employee
Kelly, a prosecutor and
How Kelly and
Kelly says it's clear the last few years haven't brought the kind of economic turnaround
"The issues are not left versus right. The issues here are up versus down," he says.
And southern
The race has seen millions in outside spending from both sides, as well as attention from the president. Trump, who held an August rally with steelworkers in the district, will return Saturday to campaign with Bost in
Bost, a union firefighter and grandson of a coal miner, says his election and Trump's appeal in the area are a continuation of something that's been happening slowly over the past few decades.
When he was elected to the state Legislature in 1994, his was the most Democratic district in the state to elect a Republican to the
The reason, he says, is that people in southern
"When you used to ask them why they were
Take
"I've often wondered what he would think if he was still alive," said Green, 70, who last voted for a Democrat for president in 1992. She and her husband say
But
He's getting some help from Vice President
She acknowledges the party hasn't done what it needs to in areas like these, where most towns might have no more than 1,000 residents.
"There are many
Many of the issues they're talking about are similar to other
Kelly is campaigning on what he calls his "Save Southern Illinois" plan, which touches on everything from improving bridges and water mains — a broken pipe left thousands of people in nine counties without water last year — to helping institutions like
He's been in
"It's just that the people at the top are doing really, really well, but it's not trickling down here."
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