Across several communities in the Chicago metropolitan area, supporters of the No Kings movement held a series of smaller-scale rallies on Saturday, shifting their focus toward encouraging early voting ahead of the November 3 midterm election. Unlike previous nationwide protests that drew large crowds and featured direct opposition to President Donald Trump, this latest wave of gatherings took a more subdued, nonpartisan approach centered on voter mobilization.
In Chicago’s northern suburbs, a few hundred people gathered in Evanston, a noticeable decrease from the several thousand participants at the group's last event in March. Organizers directed attendees to move afterward to nearby Skokie to stage a “visibility brigade” along the street, aiming to increase public awareness of early voting opportunities. Susan Sidell, co-leader of Indivisible Evanston—one of the event organizers—stressed that reaching as broad an audience as possible was a priority. “If all we have is the limited number of people who are at this rally getting that message, we’re not going to get the message far and wide enough,” she said.
While some demonstrators carried signs critical of Trump, the organizers deliberately avoided endorsing candidates or featuring political speeches at the Evanston site. This marked a clear departure from earlier gatherings; for example, in March, Democratic mayoral candidate Daniel Biss had spoken at the rally. Among elected officials present but not speaking was U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who emphasized the importance of early voting efforts. “We start getting people out right away, get the numbers going up and up and up,” Schakowsky said.
Smaller but similar gatherings took place throughout the region, including about 30 people in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood and a voter education-focused event in La Grange’s Tower Green. At the La Grange location, the atmosphere was geared more toward community engagement and outreach, with volunteers providing information on early voting and local political initiatives. Singing Resistance, a local group, performed patriotic songs to accompany the activities.
Mike Waters, an organizer with Indivisible West Suburban Chicago, highlighted the urgency of increased voter participation in the midterms, which he described as potentially one of the most consequential non-presidential elections in recent history. “We really want to get people out to the polls, and we really want to get people to the polls early,” Waters said.
Similar rallies also occurred in Gurnee, Highland Park, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Naperville, and Valparaiso, Illinois, where participants waved signs urging early voting. Katie Salyer, a leader of Indivisible Northeast Lake County, noted that early voting access had expanded recently in Lake County, increasing from one location to 18 sites, making voter turnout efforts more feasible and critical.
At the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Broadview, a smaller group convened, many of whom had been involved in previous protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Lindsay Wolfe, who attended with her mother, acknowledged a lower turnout than expected but affirmed the group’s continued commitment to visibility and protest. “Even though there was word that there would be a large turnout today at this location, we wanted to make sure that this area was not forgotten,” Wolfe said.
The White House dismissed the No Kings rallies despite their voter mobilization focus. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement that the organizers’ emphasis on voting indicated they should reconsider their moniker, framing the upcoming election as a choice between Trump and Republican policies versus what she described as “extreme Democrats’ radical socialist, open-border policies.”
Saturday’s events reflected a tactical shift within the No Kings movement, prioritizing voter participation over mass demonstrations. As the midterm election approaches, organizers across the Chicago area continue to emphasize early voting as a key strategy to influence the political landscape.