Republican state House candidate Dwight Kay has a list of reasons why Illinois no longer holds the appeal it once did for many of its fleeing residents.

“I think for most people it comes down to their inability to still afford to be here,” Kay told the Metro East Sun. "For many, it comes down to being a household matter where they sit at the kitchen table and come to the realization that they’re fed up with handing over all of their hard-earned money to career politicians who turn around and just waste it. There’s no confidence left in the system. We levy some of the highest taxes in the nation and have nothing to show for it.”

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data that shows that Chicago's population decreased for the third straight year, with 3,825 residents fleeing the city in 2017.

With outmigration showing few signs of slowing anytime soon, some are now wondering how much longer the city might be able to lay claim to its longtime status as the country’s third largest city over Houston, which grew by 8,235 residents over the same period.

Chicago is the only one of the country’s five largest cities that lost population in 2017.

“People tell me they just don’t find the state desirable anymore,” said Kay, who is running against Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) in the 112th District. “It all boils down to how do you ask a family to keep spending more money for a corrupt government?”

Kay said he sees Stuart as being a big part of the problem.

“My opponent hasn’t done anything to help Illinois [and] hasn’t proposed or voted for one single reform,” he said. “It seems the landscape of job losses and mass outmigration isn’t apparent to her.”

According to Kay, a major factor in turning the state around lies in the movement to oust longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) from power.

“I guess... it’s fair to say [that] most people thought [their] state government was working for them, but that’s clearly no longer the case,” he said. “People aligned with Madigan are working for him and no one else. The car’s in the ditch, and no one wants to pull it out because they all fear Mike Madigan.”