The Citizens Club of Springfield held a public forum this morning downtown at the Hoogland Center for the Arts to discuss what happened during the 2024 election and what it means.

The panel consisted of Bernie Schoenburg, retired columnist for the State Journal Register, Scott Reeder with the Illinois Times and Peter Hancock from Capitol News Illinois. Kent Redfield, professor emeritus from the University of Illinois Springfield was the moderator. 

The 2024 election win for Donald Trump was attributed to many factors. Some of which included, Kamala Harris’ inability to empathize with voters, her late entry into the race, and voters’ concerns, like inflation and the border crisis, not being addressed by the democratic party.

Uncertainty for what the next four years will hold was expressed and a possible run for presidency by Governor J.B. Pritzker was discussed as well.