Snapshot · Up First from NPR
Chicago is the third most populous city in the United States, giving it outsized political power in Illinois's state legislature compared to rural downstate areas.
Where this was said
At 3:25 · chapter starts 2:41
Reporter Connor Towne O'Neill joins Ayesha Rascoe to explain the New Illinois movement in clear terms: all Illinois counties except Cook County (Chicago) would secede to form a new state. The driving frustration is political arithmetic — Chicago's size as the nation's third-largest city gives Democrats a veto-proof supermajority in the state legislature, leaving rural conservatives structurally powerless. [1] — Connor Towne O'Neill "Democrats hold veto-proof supermajority: Chicago-area Democrats currently hold a veto-proof supermajority in the Illinois state legislature…" 03:45 O'Neill is quick to distinguish New Illinois from the Confederacy: these are patriotic Americans who want to stay in the United States, just not in the same state as Chicago. They invoke the language of the founding — taxation without representation — as their philosophical grounding. Crucially, there is a legal path: Article IV of the Constitution allows new states to be admitted with congressional and state-level approval, but that second requirement is the Catch-22. The state legislature they want to escape would have to let them go.
Chicago's massive population gives it a veto-proof Democratic supermajority in the state legislature, leaving rural conservative counties politically powerless. Rural Illinoisans don't just feel outvoted — they feel colonized by a city with a totally different history, economy, and culture.
Chicago-area Democrats currently hold a veto-proof supermajority in the Illinois state legislature, leaving rural downstate conservatives with little political power.
The Constitution actually provides a mechanism to admit a new state — but it requires approval from both Congress and the existing state legislature. For New Illinois, that second requirement is the near-impossible catch: the very legislature they want to escape would have to let them go.
G.H. Merritt first conceived of New Illinois in 2018 out of frustration over high taxes and Chicago's political dominance, and formalized the movement in October 2020.
G.H. Merritt didn't want to leave Illinois — she wanted Illinois to leave her alone. Standing in her father's house, she had a simple, powerful realization: high taxes and corrupt governance were pushing her out of her own home, and she refused to let that happen.
Only 42% of young men think women understand their problems, and only 25% of young women say the same about men — a mutual comprehension deficit that previous generations largely closed as they aged.
In focus groups across Philadelphia and Raleigh, every hand went up when asked if parents discussed financial stability and education, but no hands went up for marriage or parenthood.
The share of American families with only children has risen dramatically, meaning more young people grow up without the negotiation, compromise, and friction that siblings naturally impose.
Young liberal women report experiencing sexual harassment online more frequently than conservative or moderate women, partly due to higher political posting activity drawing hostile responses.
Among Gen Z, a majority of women identify as feminist while only about 40% of men do — a 15-point gap that barely existed among Boomers, Gen X, or Millennials.
A study conducted before and after the pandemic found that the share of Americans with a regular third space — a community gathering spot outside home and work — fell roughly 20 percentage points and has not recovered.
Survey data shows a massive generational divide: most over-50s believe their parents viewed them as average, while a majority under-50 say their parents viewed them as special.
When asked whether a woman cheating is morally wrong, young women were far less likely to take a hardline stance than older women or men, suggesting a shared-fate or experiential factor is shaping the judgment.
Survey data shows that men with more close friends are significantly more likely to have recently gone on a date or be in a committed relationship, highlighting the link between social integration and romantic success.
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