Clinton
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Trump
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General
Election
Visits
Hillary
Clinton grew up in Park Ridge, a suburb of
Chicago, and although Illinois was solidly in the blue column, t
he tiny Clinton team kept
busy. Headquarters on Michigan Ave. was bustling with volunteers
and there were field operations around the state. One major task
was organizing supporters to travel to neighboring
states of Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Per directives from
Brooklyn about 80-percent of those efforts focused on Iowa.
Second, for supporters who could not travel, the campaign sought to
funnel them into local Democratic campaigns in partnership with the
Coordinated Campaign; Tammy Duckworth's U.S. Senate race was a major
focus. Finally, Clinton had various friends, family and associates in
the state and the campaign team engaged them.
Democratic principal and surrogate visits concentrated on fundraising
in Chicago, but on July 13 Clinton did travel to Springfield to deliver
a speech at the site of Abraham Lincoln's "House Divided" speech.
On the Republican side, the Trump campaign had a very low
profile. In the Fall he made one visit for a fundraiser.
Trump's candidacy proved a big headache for Sen. Mark Kirk in his
re-election bid. During the primary period, Kirk had said that he
would back Trump if he became the nominee, but on June 7, following
Trump's comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel's Mexican heritage, Kiirk
said he would not support Trump "regardless of the political impact on
my candidacy or the Republican Party."