month, too.

What will suburbs do?

In 2014, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s domination over Democrat Pat Quinn in suburban counties told a big story of his victory.

Four years before, GOP candidate Bill Brady won collar counties, but Rauner won them by much larger margins, grabbing big leads over Quinn in the state’s most populous area.

“The suburbs were absolutely critical,” Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine said at the time. “He’s not governor without the suburbs, period.”

Presidential years are different, though, with bigger turnouts that in previous years have favored Democrats.

How suburban voters turn out for the presidential race could affect races far down the ballot in a big way.

So who suburban voters pick in November could be meaningful here, even if Illinois doesn’t matter much to the presidential race on a national level.

Park Ridge

The Democratic convention nodded toward Clinton’s youth in Park Ridge as the speakers and videos at the event sought to show a personal side of the candidate.

Her childhood friend Betsy Ebeling of Arlington Heights was featured prominently in a video introducing Clinton’s acceptance speech, and her husband talked about his time going to Park Ridge as well.

“I actually drove her home to Park Ridge, Illinois, to meet her family and see the town where she grew up — a perfect example of post-World War II middle-class America. Street after street of nice houses, great schools, good parks, a big public swimming pool,” he said. “And almost all white.”

To what degree will the city play a role in the narrative of the rest of the campaign? Stay tuned.

Senate race

For Illinois, this is the big one. Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Highland Park is fighting for re-election against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates. Both had stories to tell at the conventions in distinctly different ways. For Kirk, it was by not going, a move that amplified his disagreements with Trump.

“I joke to (Sen.) Ben Sasse that if Trump wins, he’ll be my roommate at Gitmo,” Kirk joked in a New York Times story.

For Duckworth, it was a speech on the main stage on the final day of the Democratic convention.

“By the way, Donald Trump,” she said, “I didn’t put my life on the line to defend our democracy so you could invite Russia to interfere in it.”

Statehouse races

They won’t get the most ink, but the races for control of power at the Illinois Capitol have the power to shape the final two years of Rauner’s term in office.

Republicans are looking to cut into Democrats’ dominance of the House and Senate, making sure that the governor’s future vetoes will stand.

Democrats, though, could deal a big blow to Rauner’s agenda if they can maintain their large majorities or even pick up seats.