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With International Women’s Day this past weekend, across the world there were displays of support for women. In Montevideo, Uruguay, the government dedicated a stamp to Luisa Cuesta, who has fought for truth and justice in the country. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, restaurants gave female patrons discounts on their meals. And in the U.S., there were various celebrations, including Hillary Clinton’s statement before the United Nations where she asserted that equality for women is “the great unfinis

With the March 18 primary approaching for the Illinois gubernatorial race, 4 Republicans are vying for the favor of voters and a large swath of undecided voters may make the difference. Illinois is currently dealing with a downgraded credit rating and a public pensions crisis. Hovering between 8 and 9 percent, unemployment is still above the national average. With big names dropping out or declining to run, Democratic governor Pat Quinn is running against only token opposition in his primary.

In Illinois, a state where Democratic U.S. representatives outnumber Republicans twelve to six, at least one north suburban Chicago district may see a switch from Democrat to Republican. With U.S. Representative Mark Kirk running for and winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, the 10th congressional district became open for the first time in a decade. Small business owner and Republican Robert Dold defeated three-time candidate Dan Seals, 51-49, in the general election. After redistricting, howeve

Over the long weekend, I got to thinking about leadership and about U.S. presidents -- both past and present. Our country has celebrated 44 presidents, and while good and bad decisions were made, the tremendous achievements of our leaders are undeniable. Biases aside, our former presidents possessed traits of leadership, commitment, and dedication to our country that are timeless. In identifying these traits, we can better build an ideal for future leaders. Leading our country to independence,

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow

As the 2014 midterm elections approach, parties and candidates are organizing, and potential swing districts are already in campaign mode. One such district, the Illinois 13th, stretches from Collinsville in the west and south up through central Illinois and includes Springfield, as well as Bloomington and Champaign-Urbana. The incumbent is Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Davis, a 44-year-old from Taylorville. The 2014 election marks Davis' first time defending his seat. After years of

While the entire military voting system is broken, there are some states whose military absentee voting records are particularly shocking, and it seems that the Department of Defense and state voting officials are simply passing the buck -- pointing the finger at each other as the problem. In the end, it adds up to the disenfranchisement of military voters. According to a report from the Military Voter Protection Project (MVPP), the picture during the 2012 election was not pretty, and unless s

In Illinois, Democrats hold 12 out of 18 U.S. congressional districts. In the 12th district, one chosen by National Journal as likely to flip, Republicans are hoping to make the switch happen. The 12th district stretches from East St. Louis in the west -- with a chunk removed in the middle -- to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in the south. The district leans Democrat, is largely agricultural, but might be leaving its incumbent vulnerable. The incumbent is Democrat Bill Enya

Primaries first began in the early twentieth century as a response to increasingly strong party control over elections. At the time, voters wanted a larger say in who would be chosen as their candidate, instead of the long-standing tradition of party bosses choosing who would run for office. Progressive reformers viewed direct primaries as a way for constituencies to increase transparency and allow for citizens to participate in the electoral process. As primaries became a feature of local, stat

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. . . . It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States.”—Abraham Lincoln, 1858 His “House Divided” speech at the 1858 Republican Convention in Illinois was not, as we often remember it