Will County Gazette

Illinoisans are leaving their home state in droves to find more affordable taxes, better jobs and sensible public policy. Republicans are clamoring to right the ship before the state loses another congressional seat in the next decade's census. 

Will County Republican Chairman George Pearson agrees with many GOP lawmakers that it's time to tame action before it's too late.

"Instead of continuing to lose our family, friends and neighbors to successfully run states, why not join our Republican efforts to elect a new governor and enough Republicans in the Illinois General Assembly to take control over Illinois and stop this insanity?" Pearson wrote in the Republican group's weekly newsletter. "Work with us. What are you willing to do to help turn our state around?"

Illinois has lost five congressional seats in 30 years, including one seat from the latest Census as tens of thousands of residents migrate, largely to neighboring Midwestern states with lower taxes and job growth. From July 2018 to July 2019 alone, more than 51,000 people left the Prairie State behind. 

Other Republican figures are frustrated with the decades of bad policy and continual tax spikes that are driving Illinois natives away. Last week, Wirepoint's Ted Dabrowski pointed to the state's policy management. 

"People are voting with their feet," Dabrowski said, according to Chicago City Wire. "They're telling the rest of America 'this is what we want.'"

Lawmakers have had enough, too. Several Republican representatives have made statements about the loss of their constituents. Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) called the latest congressional seat loss a "great blemish on the prestige" of the State of Illinois. 

"This is really a sad day in Illinois history when we see that our population has declined so much that we continue to lose seats and our presence on Capitol Hill," Butler said.