Nearly 200 people packed Washington Street in downtown Naperville Saturday morning with a message that was unilaterally clear: Vote in the upcoming midterm election.
Saturday’s rally, organized by Indivisible Naperville, the League of Women Voters of Naperville and the American Association of University Women Naperville Area, was one of hundreds of “No Kings: Vote Early” events taking place in the Chicago area and across the country the same day. Locally, they also were scheduled to be held in Glen Ellyn, Wheaton and Elmhurst, to name a few.
With the midterms on the horizon, organizers said this particular gathering was meant to be nonpartisan and encourage people to make a plan to vote. Even the choice to hold the rally at the Washington Street bridge was strategic as it is near the Naperville Municipal Center, which serves as an early voting location.
“We want to be close enough but not interfering with voting, and encourage people to go vote early,” said Donna Cheesebrough, president of the Naperville League of Women Voters. “The whole point of this is, ‘Make a plan, vote early.’”
Protestors gathered in Naperville were fully behind that message, holding signs that said everything from “Now or Never 2026 Midterm Elections” to “Rise Up! Take Back What’s Ours! Vote!” Organizers even walked a group of attendees over to the municipal center for early voting.
“(I) just want to show my support for the Democratic Party,” said Naperville resident Nick Owens, who was part of the group. “(I) just don’t like the current administration and how they treat people … so (I’m) trying to do my part as a citizen.”
Protestors also brought their anger to the event Saturday, denouncing the current Trump administration and chanting, “Vote them out.” Among them was a participant from Canada.
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“In Canada, we hear about the current administration every single day,” Therese Bouchard said. “Every single day we hear about it and (I’m) just really sick of it. If I could vote, I would.”
Although she is a Canadian citizen, Bouchard has lived in Chicago for 12 years and loves the United States, she said. When one of her friends told her about the protest, she knew she had to come out to encourage Americans who are able to to vote.
“The American people have to understand that Canada loves its friend, loves its people. It’s the government that’s the problem, and that’s why it’s important to vote, vote, vote,” she said.
At the same time, attendees described the mood of Saturday as joyous and uplifting. A Dixieland band played on the sidewalk, bringing the sounds of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street to the protest.
“It was my idea. I heard a saxophone player play ‘America the Beautiful’ at a protest in Oak Brook a year ago and it was so moving and beautiful to hear,” said Dianne McGuire, co-leader of Indivisible Naperville.
She wanted something similar for Saturday’s event, McGuire said, and was pleased to see attendees bouncing along to the music.
“No Kings” organizers weren’t the only ones with a “get out the vote” message Saturday.
Similar to the last “No Kings” event in March, DuPage County Republicans arranged to have trucks driving to the various protests with message boards that read, “Say No To Pritzker The Tax King” and “Reject Socialism, Vote Republican.”
“We did it to highlight the irony of the protests,” DuPage County Republican Chair Kevin Coyne said. “Illinois has been run by two kings over many, many decades. We lived under (former Illinois House Speaker Michael) Madigan’s rule for many decades and now we have (Gov.) JB Pritzker, who has taken over much of Illinois’ elections and politics through unprecedented amounts of spending.”
Coyne also said that he hoped the trucks would encourage Republicans in the area to make a plan to vote early, something that he believes Republicans have historically not been good about doing.
“Republicans have been very, very, very, I think, stubborn to move off of election day voting, which just really hurts our candidates,” he said.
When the trucks drove by the Naperville rally, people booed and turned their backs to the vehicles.
“Get lost!” yelled Don McBride, who was speaking to a reporter when the trucks drove by.
“I’m not above a little response,” he said.
McBride, a Naperville resident, said he attended the rally for the same reason many others attended: to stand up to the Trump administration and to encourage people to vote.
“There’s a lot of people against Trump and they’ve got to make that clear in the coming election,” he said. “It’s really for the good of our children.”