Illinois Votes: The Big 2020 Election!

Imagine a place with wide-open fields where corn grows tall! That's Illinois! It's a big state in the middle of America, like a giant playground. Illinois is home to lots of people, and its biggest city, Chicago, is like a super-tall forest of buildings by a huge lake. In 2020, everyone in Illinois got to help choose the next President of the United States. It was a very exciting day!

Two main people wanted to be President. One was Joe Biden, and the other was Donald Trump. They had running mates, like teammates, named Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. Illinois had 20 votes in the Electoral College, which is like a special team that officially picks the President. Most people thought Joe Biden would win in Illinois, like everyone expecting the home team to win a game.

On November 3, 2020, people in Illinois cast their votes. Joe Biden got more votes than Donald Trump! It was like a close race, but Biden crossed the finish line first. He won about 57% of the votes, while Trump got around 40%. This meant Illinois helped Joe Biden become President. There was also a candidate named Jo Jorgensen who got a small number of votes.

Guess where most of the votes for Joe Biden came from? The super-big city of Chicago and its surrounding area, called Cook County! If you took away all the votes from Cook County, Donald Trump would have actually won Illinois! This shows how important big cities are in elections. It was a close call, but Chicago's votes helped Biden win the state.