Influx of GOP voters stands out in normally liberal county
“Right now we have a lot of new construction going on across the center and southern part of the county. A big percentage of those people are coming from Illinois, and they appear to be coming to Indiana because they like the lower taxes and lower cost of living.” — Lake County Commissioner Jerry Tippy
Jerry Bromley has been involved in politics for years.
He was an active member of the Republican Party in Schaumburg, Illinois, and served on Schaumburg Township’s Library Board.
When he moved to St. John about a year ago, he said he wanted to continue being involved.
“I wanted to find a candidate who supports the reasons I moved here,” Bromley said.
High taxes are one reason he wanted to leave Cook County. He said he also wanted to live in a community that is more supportive of law enforcement. He does not support the sanctuary city status sought by some Illinois cities and towns. Bromley said he also was looking for a responsive government that was able to put party politics aside to get work done for people. He said he found most of what he is looking for in the Hoosier state.
He connected with the campaign to reelect Commissioner Jerry Tippy and decided to help him. During the general election Bromley was busy placing signs, phone banking and working polling places for Tippy, R-Schererville.
Tippy said he has been seeing more and more Illinois transplants getting involved with the Republican Party when they make the move to Indiana. He said there were a few, like Bromley, who assisted with his campaign.
“Right now we have a lot of new construction going on across the center and southern part of the county,” Tippy said. “A big percentage of those people are coming from Illinois, and they appear to be coming to Indiana because they like the lower taxes and lower cost of living.”
Tippy said it appears many of these new transplants are disillusioned Illinois Democrats turning Republican or Republicans leaving Illinois for Indiana.
“I think it’s a trend that has been going on for a while, but it has accelerated the last four years,” Tippy said.
Anecdotally, how regist ered voters i n Lake County voted during the general election shows support for the idea.
According to election records from the Lake County Board of Elections and Voters Registration, Lake County residents voting a straight Republican ticket in the last four federal elections have been on the increase with significant bump between 2018 and 2020.
The number of voters who cast a straight Republican ballot was 11,634 in 2014; 22,025 in 2016 and 27,714 in 2018. That number jumped to 49,722 in 2020, according to election board reports.
Democratic st rai ght ticket votes were 28,694 in 2014, 72,280 in 2016 and 70,933 in 2018. In 2020, 78, 276 people cast a straight Democratic vote, according to the reports.
Dan Dernulc, chairman of Lake County’s Republican Party, said he agrees in part the migration of Illinois residents to Northwest Indiana is bringing more Republican voters into the fold. He said another reason for the bump in numbers is because the county’s Republican Party has a product that appeals to more and more voters.
“We did better than we did four years ago. We did better than we did eight years ago. I’m extremely proud. It took a lot of hard work on my team’s part,” Dernulc said.
Dernulc said unlike Indiana there is a lack of political leadership in Illinois. “They moved because of high taxes and bad services and government imposing on people’s rights. That’s not what Indiana is about,” Dernulc said.
“I’ve always tried to do what’s right for our community, sell our product and try to make sure people know the Republicans are alive and well,” Dernulc said.
James Wieser, chair of Lake County Democratic Party, said a further review of the numbers is needed before any conclusions can be drawn.
“It’s always difficult to determine if that is indicative of what the future holds, or more like a cyclical thing just because of the nature of the candidates involved. It’s really difficult to know,” Wieser said.
The western portion of the county along the state line is seeing an influx of residents relocating to Indiana. He said that probably is having a bit of an impact on the numbers of Republicans in the county.
“It seems the impact seems to be concentrated in St. John and St. John Township and the border communities,” Wieser said. Further study of the voter turnout “Right now we have a lot of new construction going on across the center and southern part of t he county,” Tippy said. “A big percentage of those people are coming from Illinois and they appear to be coming to Indiana because they like the lower taxes and lower cost of living.” numbers will determine if that is the case or of the increase of Republican voters is more widespread throughout the county.
“I think it’s localized. I see more big increases right in that area. I don’t think it is emblematic of countywide occurrence,” Wieser said.