Beyond Red And Blue: Third Parties In Illinois Politics

Pick any election in America, and it’s usually Democrats versus Republicans. But there are also smaller parties like the Greens and the Libertarians, and every year they’re trying to both get their messages out and get their candidates on the ballot. Illinois is a particularly difficult state for third parties, and we spoke about all this and more with representatives from the Libertarian Party of Illinois and the Green Party of Illinois.

If you’ve ever turned on cable news, you’ve seen that map of the US with red states and blue states - red for Republicans, blue for Democrats. And in this year’s midterm elections, the main political fight is between the two major parties and who gets control of the House, Senate, and statewide offices across the country. Yesterday, we talked about how they’re really shades of blue and red.

But what if you’ve decided the two parties aren’t for you? Well, you still have options. But it’s usually an uphill climb — especially when the parties in power decide how big you need to be to get on the ballot.

Guests:

• Lex Green, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Illinois
   
• Geoffrey Cubbage, Secretary of the Green Party of Illinois
   
• Brian Gaines, professor of political science at the University of Illinois and the Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs