Yard signs indicate change in DuPage County's political landscape ahead of 2024 election

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- The 2024 presidential election is now just three weeks away, and in the western suburbs, where Republicans once dominated, the landscape has changed dramatically over the last several election cycles.

The politics of yard signs is a one clear indication of that change.

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It is fall in DuPage County. The leaves have changed, and so has the political landscape there, where it seems much more common to see Harris-Walz campaign signs than those for Trump-Vance. Both sides, though, are proud to support their candidate.

"I think it's important, because it used to be such a bright red area to show that it has changed. We've got a lot of people who, you know, have lived in the city after college and all that stuff, and are educated and move out this way and have brought their politics with them," said Jeff Mitchell, who supports Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

"Well, it's kind of funny, because I do a lot of outside yard work, and people stop and congratulate me. They say, 'Boy, you got a lot of guts putting the signs out.' And I said, 'Well, this is what I truly believe,'" said Jim Turek, who supports former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance.

Deb Conroy, the first Democrat and first woman elected as the DuPage County Board chair, was out campaigning on Monday in Clarendon Hills with state representative candidate Marti Deuter.

For suburban women, reproductive rights are expected to be a very important factor.

"It's a driving factor that is just like, if you're fiscally responsible or if you're super progressive, I think you either are pro-choice or you're not. It's 100% in or 100% out, and that's what women want to see," Conroy said.

Republicans are often more clandestine in their support for the top of the ticket.

"This is a ticket splitter area, more independent voters who have rejected the far right and the far left, the things that are coming out of the RNC and the DNC. So, people vote for the candidate. They're not voting for the party anymore," said former Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.

But in some areas, politics is more private, and yards signs nowhere to be seen. It is, perhaps, a sign of how polarized our politics have become these days.

"Now, it separates families. It separates neighbors and neighborhoods. So, no one really gets too deep into those discussions anymore, and it's unfortunate," Durkin said.

While the politics in DuPage County may be divided, people on both sides of the political aisle have one thing in common. They are expecting the election to be very close.