After emerging from the primaries, candidates have four months to make their impressions on more people for the general election. LaSalle County Republican Party Chairman Larry Smith says for his party, that work will be a continuation of programs started before the primary campaigns. The You Are Not Alone or YANA speaker program aims to introduce candidates and office holders to regular people, especially those not committed to a political party.
Smith says meet-and-greets have also helped candidates and office holders make impressions so their names aren’t unknown when ballots are turned in. A problem candidates have faced as long as there have been elections is voters not knowing who the candidates are below the highest races on the ballot.
The in-person meetings create direct connections. Smith says such outreach has helped him grow the number of Republican precinct committeemen in the county from 35 to 91 in two years. There are 119 precincts in LaSalle County, so he’s looking for a few more.
We have contacted the LaSalle County Democratic Party chair in anticipation of producing a story featuring her view on the election.