Illinois, the most populous state in the Union, has long been a Democratic stronghold at the state and federal levels. Governor Bill Duffy had been elected to a fourth term in a landslide in 2130, but his approval ratings began to plummet after his fourth innaguration due to the controversial rollout of new toll roads and charges of corruption in building new bridges across Lake Michigan. Duffy had previously announced that he wouldn't be running for a fifth term in 2134. Instead, former U.S. Representative Melinda Kotowski stepped forward. What most people thought would be an easy nomination process turned difficult when Jordyn Blythe announced she was endorsing Rock Island Mayor Dale McCarter for governor. The popular and well-liked McCarter controversially lost the Democratic primary to Kotowski. McCarter won the nomination for the Green Party. Former State Senator and 2130 Repiblican candidate Dylan Sullivan won an easy primary battle over businessman Kyle Holmes. The election was a tight one, as progressive groups dumped money on the McCarter campaign and Sullivan tied Kotowski and McCarter to the increasingly unpopular Duffy administration. However, even with the unpopular Duffy administration and a split in the Democratic vote (McCarter, who ran a strong social liberal campaign, also siphoned off a few Republican voters in the Chicago suburbs), Kotowski still managed a large victory over Sullivan and McCarter (she even managed to win the Quad Cities area over McCarter).