Twelve Illinois Counties Vote Tuesday on Separating From Cook County — a Non-Binding Step Toward a 51st State
Voters in 12 downstate counties decide whether their boards should explore forming a new state without Cook County. Thirty-three counties have already said yes since 2020; none of the 12 borders Cook.
The longest-running argument in Illinois politics is on the ballot again Tuesday. Voters in 12 counties will decide non-binding advisory referendums asking whether their county boards should correspond with other counties outside Cook County about separating to form a new state — 11 of them under the Illinois Separation campaign, plus a separate, differently worded question in Ford County, according to FOX 32 Chicago and WFIW Radio reports read by this desk.
The 11 campaign counties are Piatt, Coles, Henderson, McDonough, Warren, Macoupin, Monroe, Washington, Hamilton, Saline and Gallatin. Supporters, led by Illinois Separation director Loret Newlin, argue that Springfield routinely legislates for Cook County and Chicago at downstate's expense. The record so far is one-sided: since 2020, voters in 33 of Illinois' 102 counties have approved similar measures, with yes votes averaging more than 70 percent. If all 12 pass Tuesday, 45 counties will have voted to explore separation. None of the 12 borders Cook County.
A yes vote changes no border, tax or law. Creating a new state from an existing one requires the consent of the Illinois General Assembly and of Congress under Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution — the same provision used to create West Virginia. A 2025 resolution by state Rep. Brad Halbrook urging recognition of the 101 counties outside Cook as the 51st state remains in the House Rules Committee, and a spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker has dismissed the movement as a stunt that is not going to happen.
For Chicago and Cook County, Tuesday's results are therefore a measure of sentiment rather than a legal event — but the sentiment keeps spreading, county by county, election by election. Illinois polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and this station will report the county-by-county results as they come in.
