akashic
1876–2024
State House District 85·Illinois

Illinois 85th State House District delivered D+3 in 2024 — close enough to flip again next time.

A reliably Republican downstate seat with a 16-point presidential tilt

1876 — 2024·38 elections
IL
Latest
D+3
in 2024
Archetype
Tossup
since the recent cycles
Population
52,028
2024 ACS

Illinois 85th State House District, Illinois: Tossup district. In 2024, voted D+3%. Republican peak: R+58 in 1920.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+3MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
TossupAkashic typology
Population
52,0282024 5-year
Median household income
$110,2152024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
62.6%2024 5-year
Black
11.1%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
19.4%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+13 in 2008MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+58 in 1920MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
2 counties · 2 D · 0 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+2.9%
12,29611,58524,437
D
+9.4%
13,87011,43125,859
D
+7.3%
11,4359,78522,732
D
+5.0%
10,7489,71320,830
D
+12.9%
11,9969,22221,478
R
−6.0%
8,8429,97618,952
R
−4.2%
6,9397,56114,892
D
+2.0%
5,3765,13711,784
R
−2.5%
4,6414,94612,321
R
−22.8%
3,8686,16610,097
R
−31.5%
3,4236,58910,056
R
−25.7%
3,1955,6959,714
R
−14.6%
3,8175,1549,137
R
−35.0%
2,5715,3607,961
R
−18.1%
2,3833,6476,992
D
+7.7%
3,6863,1576,843
R
−7.0%
2,9833,4316,420
R
−32.9%
1,8053,5765,389
R
−17.2%
2,1032,9815,092
R
−8.1%
1,8412,1704,055
R
−8.1%
1,9032,2424,167
R
−7.2%
2,0602,3824,459
D
+4.1%
1,9911,8273,970
R
−0.1%
1,8171,8203,733
R
−13.4%
1,4431,8943,368
R
−51.7%
3221,6082,487
R
−57.9%
3701,5111,972
R
−27.0%
7811,3722,190
O
+8.5%
3252271,156
R
−27.9%
3887121,160
R
−45.2%
2196851,032
R
−20.4%
4516881,159
R
−15.5%
4646361,109
R
−2.3%
438459927
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
16.5%
Irish
12.9%
Polish
10.3%
Italian
8.7%
English
5.5%
American
2.5%
French
1.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 39.2 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.5%
85+
1.0%
1.9%
75–84
2.4%
4.4%
65–74
4.7%
6.5%
55–64
6.5%
7.0%
45–54
6.9%
6.8%
35–44
6.8%
6.1%
25–34
5.9%
4.6%
18–24
4.3%
9.2%
5–17
8.8%
2.8%
<5
2.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$110,215
State House District 85 ranks near the middle of US counties.
State House District 85$110,215
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
7.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.6%
Working age (18–64)6.3%
Seniors (65+)9.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
76.8%
speak English only
Spanish12.9%
Other Indo-European6.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.1%
Other languages1.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
26.4%
Other Christian
6.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.7%
Non-Christian
3.6%
Mainline Protestant
3.5%
Methodist
1.3%
Baptist
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Illinois House District 85 breaks sharply from the state's statewide Democratic lean, delivering double-digit Republican margins at the presidential level — a pattern typical of rural and small-city downstate districts far from the Chicago media market.

The district's recent history is a story of close margins. The Democratic margin reached thirteen points in 2008; the Republican margin reached fifty-eight points in 1920. Most other elections have been decided by single-digit points.

Its demographics — a population of 52,028, a 63% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $110,215 — situate the district close to national averages on several dimensions.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
State House District 85, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-lower/17085/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did State House District 85, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, State House District 85, Illinois voted Democratic by 2.9 points (D+3), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 24,437 votes cast, 12,296 went Democratic and 11,585 went Republican.
What is State House District 85, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies State House District 85, Illinois as a "Tossup" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 8 times, Republican 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did State House District 85, Illinois last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which State House District 85, Illinois voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in State House District 85, Illinois?
State House District 85, Illinois has a population of 52,028 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in State House District 85, Illinois?
Median household income in State House District 85, Illinois is $110,215 — above the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of State House District 85, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in State House District 85, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Tossup" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.