Former President Donald Trump announced he will be running for the 2024 presidential campaign on Nov. 15, 2022. Trump’s divisive presidency has conservatives expecting the division of the Republican Party, according to National Public Radio (NPR). 

Since 2020, many Republicans have been conflicted about the ideals Trump and other far-right politicians have brought into the public eye. Some include cracking down on immigration laws, repealing the Affordable Care Act and enforcing the second amendment. While some are on board with Trump’s ideas, others want a leader with more moderate political views and who is willing to listen to the people. 

The shift to a divided Republican party is something many see as a troubling barrier to getting their prospective leaders in government. But, Ryan Williams, senior and president of the DePaul Republicans club, said he likes the direction the party is moving.

“It goes back to what the founding fathers originally intended for our elected leaders,” Williams said. “To look like more normal people who don’t really have any interest in gaining power, but rather just reflecting the values of the people they represent.”

Ben Epstein, DePaul associate professor of political science, said conservatism is a political ideology and is much more nuanced than partisanship. But “conservative ideas are shaped by partisanship and we are living in an era of extreme polarization.” 

As a result, Epstein said the shift is largely due to contradictory party views that emerged during the Trump presidency.

“They are less about long held ideas that are economic or socially conservative and more about ideas that are connected to cultural conflicts and Trumpian ideas,” Epstein said. “Republicans in Chicago, which is a very Democratic city, have the opportunity to choose whether they are more guided by conservative principles or Trump’s ones.”

In Cook County, 74% of the population voted Democrat in the 2020 presidential election, 24% voted for the Republican Party and the remaining voted Independent, according to the Federal Election Commission. 

Ja’Mal Green, one of the Chicago mayoral race candidates, said he is proud Chicago is a strongly Democratic city. 

“We don’t have much conservatism,” Green said. “We probably have a couple of conservatives in the race who support some conservative views, but we don’t have super right-wing [candidates].”

Green said there are people in Chicago that do support far right-wing views, but they are mainly small pockets of people who do not have much influence in elections, which Green said is good.

“I’m the first and the only organizer to ever shut down the Trump rally,” Green said. “When Donald Trump started, we organized 13,000 people to surround the rally and be inside and out and make it to where he decided not to come to that rally.” 

Green said the protest shows that many in Chicago “reject conservatives.” 

“We don’t play with the right-wing theories and the policies that they support against us,” Green said. “We stand up against that [and] we organize against it. And that’s the sentiment of the majority of our city.”

Even though Democrats maintain the majority vote in Chicago, conservatives still look to vote for candidates in local elections that represent their values. Especially with most republicans in Chicago being parents, Williams said they tend to look for “safety, affordability…and a well-funded school system.”

Green said that if the conservatives in Chicago do not like the candidates or the values that are presented to them in elections, they should move “to an environment that is conducive to their values.” 

Epstein said Americans have been moving to places with more homogeneous ideological makeup, reflecting Green’s statement. But over time, with this same sentiment across the country, more conservative and liberal areas are becoming more polarized. 

“All places have conservative and liberal people and ideas, as well as more moderate ones,” Epstein said. “Even in a large progressive city, all ideas are present and should be part of the debate around how the city should be run.”

Williams said conservatives will inevitably continue living in the city, so telling people to move out of Chicago if they do not feel represented enough is “a very closed-minded attitude.” 

“[When] working with a wide range of people, which, when you’re going to be mayor, that’s something you’re going to have to do,” Williams said. “You’re going to have to work with people from all different parts of the city with different beliefs, different backgrounds. And if you can’t, if you’re in your campaign, you’re saying that this group of people, regardless of what they think, shouldn’t be in the city? Well, I don’t think that’s going to reflect well on your ability to be a collaborative mayor.”

Williams said he encourages voters to look at each candidate’s background and their values, both what they are and will be promoting over the coming years.

“It’s not so simple anymore to look at someone’s political party that they’re under and know what they actually believe and what they will stand for,” Williams said. “So when you go to vote now, you really need to look into what issues are important to you.”

For those looking to vote in the mayoral and aldermanic elections, early voting is open and will continue to be open to the public until Feb. 28. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has a list of open voting locations, their hours, addresses and which ward they are in.