SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - While Illinois has been a blue state for decades, the November 5th election provided insight into a changing demographic in the state. 

"Donald Trump was 7-8 percent behind Kamala Harris," said Dr. Kent Redfield, Professor Emeritus in Political Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield. "That's very different than the 17% spread we had with both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the two previous elections." 

Redfield attributes the change to party shifts in upstate areas. The downstate area remained Republican-leaning, as it has been for years. But the suburbs of Chicago and other upstate regions started to lean further red then typical. He said the shifts can be attributed to changes in younger voters, especially males. 

"Republicans are making inroads into minority voters, particularly minority males, in terms of blacks and Hispanics," said Redfield. "...  we're talking largely about males that do not have college education, who tend to be in more working class kinds of jobs, rather than a professional or technical kinds of professions." 

While its impossible to project what will happen in future elections, Redfield said national parties will be analyzing this election to address their campaigning strategies. This could mean changes in the issues they focus on for future elections. 

"We'll get a better sense if the ground is shifted in 2026 because the Democrats are going to have to nominate statewide candidates, and try to figure out how to appeal to the what's on the ground at that point, and the Republicans are going to do the same thing," said Redfield. "But again, the Republican primary electorate is now shifted much more downstate than it's been historically, and the suburbs are much more competitively in terms of Democrats and Republicans."

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