Tuesday night’s election of Rod Blagojevich as Illinois’ new governor marks the first time this state has seen a Democrat in the office in 25 years.

In addition, the elections revealed Illinois is opposite the overwhelming majority of Republicans taking office following this week’s elections.

“Illinois is moving in the entire opposite direction of the country,” said Andrew McNitt, political science professor.

The Democratic absence, McNitt said, is a result of the problems that current Republican Gov. George Ryan has had in his career, particularly as secretary of state.

“(The problems) affected not only George Ryan but the entire Republican Party at the state level,” he said.

With Blagojevich taking office in January, McNitt said solidifying the office will depend on how well he does with policy. He added that elections give an opportunity, but they don’t guarantee results.

Richard Wandling, chair of the political science department, said there will and will not be differences in managing the state government by Democrats.

“Some of the issues that were not addressed by state government in recent years now are going to be on the table,” he said.

Those subjects, Wandling said, may include minimum wage, labor issues and a more proactive government in welfare policy overall.

However, he said he doesn’t think Blagojevich will handle the budget any differently than his opponent, Jim Ryan, would have.

“I don’t think there’s a Democratic or Republican solution to it,” Wandling said. “It would differ only marginally.”

Another effect of a Democratic governor, Wandling said, is more Democratic policy-makers. Because there have been Republican governors, they have elected Republicans as their right-hand policy makers.

However, with a Democrat taking over the office, there will be a lot more resumes hitting the capitol for policy-making jobs.

“They’ll have a chance to run the machinery of state bureaucracy,” Wandling said. “It will be interesting to see how the Democrats respond to those opportunities.”

Since the mid-1970s, the state’s governor seat has been dominated by Republicans because of a long history of Democrat problems and Republican skills.

“Illinois is one of the states considered to have a competitive two-party system,” said Wandling said. “Part of it has to do with (Republican’s) unique skill.”

That skill, Wandling said, includes former Gov. Jim Edgar’s fiscal conservatism. But on the other end, he said Democrats have made some past mistakes that caused Republicans be elected into office.

In 1990, Neil Hartigan neglected Chicago votes, particularly African-American votes, which cost him the office. In 1998, Glen Poshard refused to accept Political Action Committee (PAC) funding, which resulted in a very close race against George Ryan, who used the PAC funds. This led to the assumption, Wandling said, that if Poshard would have taken advantage of the funding he may have won.