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Description
This is the forty sixth installment of my Seventh Party System series.

Illinoia is a Midwestern state located at the crossroads of American politics, where big cities meet wide open farmlands, where Southern rural heritage meets Northern urban grit, causing the state to be a constant battleground between the left and right.

Many of the state's political parties arose in the first place due to its adjacency to other states. In the early to mid 1800s the Democratic party was strong in Illinoia due to the slave state of Polypotamia being located due south. Post civil war, however, the state became a Republican stronghold due to its remembrance of the atrocities committed by invading Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. In the late 1800s to early 1900s the Populists rose to dominance following their foundation in the neighboring state of Missouri. During the reign of the National Union party Illinoia was only slightly NU leaning, with Illinoiapolis proving to be a large Republican stronghold. However, today following demographic shifts which saw tens of thousands of African-Americans migrant into the city it has now proven to be a large Labor stronghold in a conservative learning state.

Of course, during the Second Great Depression Illinoia, like most other Midwestern states switched over to Labor en masse, leading to a Labor-Populist government which governed from 2010 to 2016. However, in 2016 the upsurge of Democratic populism saw a right wing government seize control. However, this government held only a three seat majority, with its three members of Democrats, Republicans, and Constitutionists only barely holding on against all the other myriad of parties of Illinoia.

As such, when the 2018 election saw the Democrats suffer massively while Labor and the Populists saw a comeback left Illinoia on the tipping point between left and right. The two decisive parties which would decide the balance of power were the Democrats and Social Credit. With the GOP just barely becoming the largest party in state they thought they had the governorship in the bag, needing only to ally with Constitution, Democrats, and Social Credit to eek out a one seat majority. However, unlike in the states of Pennsylvania or New Jersey the Democrats and Social Credit parties of Illinoia hate one another guts, with Social Credit having aligned itself with the Catholic Church while the Democrats professed an evangelical Protestant confession. The Democrats of Illinoia also were devout follower of the Wallacite doctrine, which on the one hand protected welfare while on the other hand demeaned trade unions. This suppression of trade unions was a non-negotiable point for Social Credit, whose base consists of older white trade unionists.

With the gulf between the Dems and SC proving too large the only possible coalitions left were for one of those parties to ally themselves with Labor and the Populists. While neither Social Credit nor the Democrats were too happy to find themselves supporting a Labor coalition the leaders of Social Credit saw it as at least preferable to another Protestant Republican-Constitution government. As such, after being given guarantees that the Catholic Church would be protected from any taxes and that the pensions of older trade union retirees would not be touched Social Credit reluctantly provided the supply Labor needed to gain power.

Thus, 2018 would prove to be a comeback for Labor in Illinoia, a nice reprieve from the losses they received in Platte and Mississippi.

Government:
Populist - The party of farmers and rural left wingers they managed to make a comeback in 2018 after the Republicans passed devastating cuts to the Illinoia Farm Bill that slashed farmer benefits to pay for more corporate tax breaks. While nowhere near the Labor either demographically or socially the two parties shared economic principles has lead the Lab-Pop coalition to be an unbreakable one ever since its formation in 1993.
Labor - The party of urban workers and ethnic minorities their stronghold in Illinoiapolis is due to the city large African-American population which reliably votes Labor every year on end. The mass austerity which the Democrats supported also allowed Labor to recapture some of its urban white working class vote, though most of those voters simply switched Social Credit, especially in the Springfield metropolitan area.

Supply:
Social Credit - The party of socially conservative white workers, they have often been demeaned as the "Democrats of the North" however their record in the state of Illinoia has proven them to be anything but. The party enshrines the value of labor unions as key to the economic welfare of all, and has constantly fought against Democratic efforts to erode workers' rights. While holding similar opinions to the Democrats on many social issues and immigration issues the party's confessional closeness to the Catholic Church worries the evangelical Wallacites, who have yet to fully give up their dreams of WASP America. As such, given the choice between two evils Social Credit ultimately decided to side with the party that they split from in the first place, Labor, over the parties which they were always opposed to, the Republicans and Democrats.

Opposition:
Republican - A party for middle and upper class whites their support remained stable from 2016 to 2018, despite the austerity they opposed leading to thousands of lost jobs. With their base consisting of professionals firmly isolated from the economical problems which working class Americans suffer their supporters continued to praise the GOP for their devotion to "business first" and "fiscal responsibility". The party also refused to reach out to younger, socially liberal voters which could have joined the party, choosing to stick to their Buckley roots and back the socially conservative Constitution party above all else, a move which resulted in young voters swinging decisively in favor in Labor.
Democratic - A socially conservative, economically centrist party which is synonymous with Southern heritage for many, they suffered heavily losses in the 2018 election as their working class base rejected the austerity measures they proposed. While a few of the wealthier stalwarts and most religiously devout rural voters stuck with the party, the Democrats are now in a worse position they were back in 2014.
Constitution - The party for the Christian right of America, they are religious extremists who believe in the absolute word of both the Bible and the Free Market, deferring to the latter more often than the former. They also suffered losses in the 2018 election, though not as severe as the Democrats, since the vast majority of their base is already upper middle class or too far down the rabbit hole religious to vote anything other than their tribal instinct of Purple.
Free Forgottonia - An oddball party founded in the chaos of the 1970s by Neal Gamm to promote the interests of Western Illinoia he won nationwide fame after federal agents mistook his satirical attempt to get aid from the USSR as a legitimate threat and threw him in a federal prison. After serving five years for "abetting the enemy" Gamm came back to his hometown of Fandon as a staunch libertarian, raising awareness of how the USA was becoming more and more of a police state. While remaining a minor party for most of its history ever since the Second Great Depression the party has soared in popularity among the residents of Western Illinoia who felt as though they had suffered long enough under the yolk of Springfield and Illinoiapolis elites. Unfortunately for them, to the other six parties of Illinoia the FF remains forgotten and ignored, with the right refusing to cooperate with "atheist hippies" and the left refusing to work with the "gluttons of greed."

Credit for the basemap goes to Chicxulub.

Description
This is the forty sixth installment of my Seventh Party System series.

Illinoia is a Midwestern state located at the crossroads of American politics, where big cities meet wide open farmlands, where Southern rural heritage meets Northern urban grit, causing the state to be a constant battleground between the left and right.

Many of the state's political parties arose in the first place due to its adjacency to other states. In the early to mid 1800s the Democratic party was strong in Illinoia due to the slave state of Polypotamia being located due south. Post civil war, however, the state became a Republican stronghold due to its remembrance of the atrocities committed by invading Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. In the late 1800s to early 1900s the Populists rose to dominance following their foundation in the neighboring state of Missouri. During the reign of the National Union party Illinoia was only slightly NU leaning, with Illinoiapolis proving to be a large Republican stronghold. However, today following demographic shifts which saw tens of thousands of African-Americans migrant into the city it has now proven to be a large Labor stronghold in a conservative learning state.

Of course, during the Second Great Depression Illinoia, like most other Midwestern states switched over to Labor en masse, leading to a Labor-Populist government which governed from 2010 to 2016. However, in 2016 the upsurge of Democratic populism saw a right wing government seize control. However, this government held only a three seat majority, with its three members of Democrats, Republicans, and Constitutionists only barely holding on against all the other myriad of parties of Illinoia.

As such, when the 2018 election saw the Democrats suffer massively while Labor and the Populists saw a comeback left Illinoia on the tipping point between left and right. The two decisive parties which would decide the balance of power were the Democrats and Social Credit. With the GOP just barely becoming the largest party in state they thought they had the governorship in the bag, needing only to ally with Constitution, Democrats, and Social Credit to eek out a one seat majority. However, unlike in the states of Pennsylvania or New Jersey the Democrats and Social Credit parties of Illinoia hate one another guts, with Social Credit having aligned itself with the Catholic Church while the Democrats professed an evangelical Protestant confession. The Democrats of Illinoia also were devout follower of the Wallacite doctrine, which on the one hand protected welfare while on the other hand demeaned trade unions. This suppression of trade unions was a non-negotiable point for Social Credit, whose base consists of older white trade unionists.

With the gulf between the Dems and SC proving too large the only possible coalitions left were for one of those parties to ally themselves with Labor and the Populists. While neither Social Credit nor the Democrats were too happy to find themselves supporting a Labor coalition the leaders of Social Credit saw it as at least preferable to another Protestant Republican-Constitution government. As such, after being given guarantees that the Catholic Church would be protected from any taxes and that the pensions of older trade union retirees would not be touched Social Credit reluctantly provided the supply Labor needed to gain power.

Thus, 2018 would prove to be a comeback for Labor in Illinoia, a nice reprieve from the losses they received in Platte and Mississippi.

Government:
Populist - The party of farmers and rural left wingers they managed to make a comeback in 2018 after the Republicans passed devastating cuts to the Illinoia Farm Bill that slashed farmer benefits to pay for more corporate tax breaks. While nowhere near the Labor either demographically or socially the two parties shared economic principles has lead the Lab-Pop coalition to be an unbreakable one ever since its formation in 1993.
Labor - The party of urban workers and ethnic minorities their stronghold in Illinoiapolis is due to the city large African-American population which reliably votes Labor every year on end. The mass austerity which the Democrats supported also allowed Labor to recapture some of its urban white working class vote, though most of those voters simply switched Social Credit, especially in the Springfield metropolitan area.

Supply:
Social Credit - The party of socially conservative white workers, they have often been demeaned as the "Democrats of the North" however their record in the state of Illinoia has proven them to be anything but. The party enshrines the value of labor unions as key to the economic welfare of all, and has constantly fought against Democratic efforts to erode workers' rights. While holding similar opinions to the Democrats on many social issues and immigration issues the party's confessional closeness to the Catholic Church worries the evangelical Wallacites, who have yet to fully give up their dreams of WASP America. As such, given the choice between two evils Social Credit ultimately decided to side with the party that they split from in the first place, Labor, over the parties which they were always opposed to, the Republicans and Democrats.

Opposition:
Republican - A party for middle and upper class whites their support remained stable from 2016 to 2018, despite the austerity they opposed leading to thousands of lost jobs. With their base consisting of professionals firmly isolated from the economical problems which working class Americans suffer their supporters continued to praise the GOP for their devotion to "business first" and "fiscal responsibility". The party also refused to reach out to younger, socially liberal voters which could have joined the party, choosing to stick to their Buckley roots and back the socially conservative Constitution party above all else, a move which resulted in young voters swinging decisively in favor in Labor.
Democratic - A socially conservative, economically centrist party which is synonymous with Southern heritage for many, they suffered heavily losses in the 2018 election as their working class base rejected the austerity measures they proposed. While a few of the wealthier stalwarts and most religiously devout rural voters stuck with the party, the Democrats are now in a worse position they were back in 2014.
Constitution - The party for the Christian right of America, they are religious extremists who believe in the absolute word of both the Bible and the Free Market, deferring to the latter more often than the former. They also suffered losses in the 2018 election, though not as severe as the Democrats, since the vast majority of their base is already upper middle class or too far down the rabbit hole religious to vote anything other than their tribal instinct of Purple.
Free Forgottonia - An oddball party founded in the chaos of the 1970s by Neal Gamm to promote the interests of Western Illinoia he won nationwide fame after federal agents mistook his satirical attempt to get aid from the USSR as a legitimate threat and threw him in a federal prison. After serving five years for "abetting the enemy" Gamm came back to his hometown of Fandon as a staunch libertarian, raising awareness of how the USA was becoming more and more of a police state. While remaining a minor party for most of its history ever since the Second Great Depression the party has soared in popularity among the residents of Western Illinoia who felt as though they had suffered long enough under the yolk of Springfield and Illinoiapolis elites. Unfortunately for them, to the other six parties of Illinoia the FF remains forgotten and ignored, with the right refusing to cooperate with "atheist hippies" and the left refusing to work with the "gluttons of greed."

Credit for the basemap goes to Chicxulub.