WASHINGTON DC – Illinois is one of the six "big' states in which more than 20 percent of each party’s pledged delegates will be allocated during the March 2016 primaries. In those states - Georgia, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Illinois – the American Enterprise Institute did a review of exit polls from the 2008 and 2012 primaries.
Illinois voters will choose 69 bound Republican and 156 pledged Democrat delegates on March 15th.
While the Illinois Republican Party doesn't emphasize this tidbit in their statewide candidate choices or among the IL GOP leadership, 2008 and 2012 exit polling showed that six-in-ten GOP voters described themselves as "somewhat" or "very" conservative.
Among Democrats in Illinois, 48% describe themselves as "somewhat" or "very" liberal.
More Illinois men than women vote in GOP primaries, and more women than men vote in Democrat primaries and in both parties, the majority of voters are in the 55 to 64 age bracket than any other.
