By: Hlib Miasnychenko

As we talk about the general idea of building a prosperous and healthy society, let’s go into specifics. Our first move is a step down from the national level of politics towards the people: state level.

In case you have not noticed, there is a gubernatorial race in Illinois. I know it is hard not to see, considering the amount of advertisement on the internet, so what is actually going on? The answer is midterms.

Generally, that word means the elections in the middle of the president’s term. In our case, it is the elections to the House of Representatives (all 435 seats are contested), the third of a Senate (34 seats out of 100) and thirty-nine state and territorial gubernatorial elections. That is why you see so many advertisements trying to convince you to vote for the right candidate.

Why is it important to pay attention to such things? Well, the elections will decide many things on both state and national levels. The representatives and senators will (surprisingly) represent our state in Congress and show our position on different issues – for example, the Infrastructure Bill authorized unprecedented spending on roads, bridges, airports, etc. So now, it is the states’ responsibility to coordinate steps with federal agencies on where and how to improve the infrastructure. That is how we will see new roads in Illinois.

The executive powers of the states are the ones the governor has. As governor Pritzker is running for reelection, it will be his duty to coordinate the works.