Why did Biden campaign spent time in Illinois this summer?

For the last two months, Chicago and the state of Illinois have resembled a Midwestern home for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, starting with a June visit to debut his “Bidenomics” recovery strategy and followed by repeated stops from Vice President Kamala Harris, a visit from first lady Jill Biden and countless tours by Cabinet officials.

Illinois has voted Democratic in presidential contests since 1992, and rejected former President Donald Trump by 17 percentage points in both 2020 and 2016. So the attention the Biden campaign is devoting to a reliably blue state might…