We’re back with a new Smoke-Filled Room! With the dust settling on the November election, we get into the bigger picture this episode. What can we take away from this election for 2026 and how does this impact our strategy moving forward?
Collin Corbett leads our discussion with State Representative Travis Weaver, former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy, Strive Strategies Group President Dennis Cook, and Cor’s political experts Michael Butler and Chris Jackowiak.
We begin at the nat...
We’re back with a new Smoke-Filled Room! With the dust settling on the November election, we get into the bigger picture this episode. What can we take away from this election for 2026 and how does this impact our strategy moving forward?
Collin Corbett leads our discussion with State Representative Travis Weaver, former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy, Strive Strategies Group President Dennis Cook, and Cor’s political experts Michael Butler and Chris Jackowiak.
We begin at the national level and focus on 4 major topics: turnout for Trump, gains among Latino voters, abortion failing with female voters, and young voters shifting to Trump.
Then we get into how voters feel Democrats are talking down to them, abandoning them as they shift further and further to the left on social issues, and in Illinois especially, seemingly incapable of speaking to middle-income voters.
We bring back our “Boy, That Escalated Quickly” segment to dive into the drama between Aaron Del Mar and Jeanne Ives and others in Palatine Township and at the state part, which leads to some pretty strong opinions.
We close by quickly covering some key developments in the news that Republicans throughout Illinois ought to be using and drawing attention to. More state employees have been caught defrauding PPP, Illinois has the 3rd highest unemployment of any state in the nation, new business applications lag in Illinois, and Republicans need to make every Democrat answer for the budget they do or don’t vote for.
00:00: Introductions
03:51: 2024's Voter Turnout Up in Red Areas, Down in Blue Areas
18:01: Trump Makes Big Gains Among Latino Voters
29:51: Democrats Puzzled By Women Not Supporting Harris While Abortion Referendums Win
38:00: Younger Voters Shift Bigly Towards Trump
42:37: Early Voting Way Up in Illinois in 2024
53:46: Democrats Have Shifted Sharply Left on Social Issues
01:01:31: Democrats and Their Allies Preach at and Look Down on Everyday Americans
01:08:51: Democrats Don't Know How to Speak to Middle-Income Voters
01:14:38: Liberal Media Bias Is Hurting Democrats
01:18:06: Boy, That Escalated Quickly: Del Mar Taking Flack for Running Bi-Partisan Slate in Palatine Township
01:29:19: Number of State Employees Caught Defrauding PPP Now Over 275
01:30:49: Unemployment in Illinois 3rd Highest in Nation
01:33:12: New Business Applications Up Nationwide, But Not in Illinois
01:34:40: Republicans Need to Use Dem Strategy Against Them with the 2026 Budget
01:39:02: OG & Clown of the Week
01:44:32: Closing Thoughts
This will be our last official Smoke-Filled Room of 2025! We will be back in your inboxes in a couple of weeks with a recording of a Smoke-Filled Room we did at the Illinois Federation of Republican Women’s Annual Conference to send you off into Christmas.
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