Question: What is the third blue state with a Democratic stronghold other than California and New York?

Context paragraphs:
Political party strength in Illinois: Illinois is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections and one of the "big three" Democratic states alongside California and New York.  It is considered one of the most Democratic states in the nation in presidential contests.  For most of its history, Illinois was widely considered to be a swing state, voting for the winner of all but two presidential elections in the 20th century.  Political party strength in Illinois is highly dependent upon Cook County, and the state's reputation as a blue state rests upon the fact that the majority of its population and political power is concentrated in Chicago, Cook County, and the Chicago metropolitan area.  Outside of Chicago, the suburban collar counties continue to trend Democratic while downstate Illinois can be considered more conservative.

Political party strength in California: California is largely a Democratic stronghold and one of the "big three" Democratic states in presidential elections alongside New York and Illinois.

Political party strength in New York: New York is a Democratic stronghold and one of the "big three" Democratic states alongside California and Illinois.

New York Blue Gene supercomputer: New York Blue Gene supercomputer, also known as "NewYorkBlue", is an 18 rack Blue Gene/L and a 2 rack Blue Gene/P massively parallel supercomputer based on the IBM system-on-chip technology.  It is located in the New York Center for Computational Sciences (NYCCS).  The supercomputer is owned by Stony Brook University and is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island, New York.  The funds for this machine were provided by the New York state, with the leadership of the NYS Assembly.  It began operating on July 15, 2007, when it was the fifth most powerful supercomputer.  The renovation of laboratory space was supported by the New York state and U.S. DOE fund.  As of June 2010, the Blue Gene/L was ranked 67th in the Top 500 supercomputing rankings.

Politics of Illinois: Illinois is a Democratic stronghold and one of the "big three" Democratic states alongside California and New York.  It is considered one of the most Democratic states in the nation and as of 2017 every statewide elected office is held by a Democrat except the governorship.

Ralph DeRose: Ralph C. DeRose (September 8, 1928 – December 21, 2011) was an American Democratic Party official who served in the New Jersey State Senate and twice sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey.  DeRose was elected to the State Senate in 1971.  He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1973, finishing third with 95,085 votes (22%), behind Brendan Byrne with 193,120 votes (45%) and Ann Klein with 116,705 (27%).  Byrne later appointed him to serve as a Commissioner of the Waterfront Commission of New York and New Jersey.  In 1975, Byrne tried to remove DeRose from the post, and cut DeRose's $30,500 salary.  DeRose resigned in 1977 to challenge Byrne in the Democratic gubernatorial primary; he finished third with 99,948 votes (17%).  Byrne won with 175,448 (30%), and U.S. Rep. Robert Roe finished second with 134,116 (23%).  U.S. Rep. James Florio finished fourth with 87,743 votes (15%), followed by ex-State Labor Commissioner Joseph Hoffman with 58,835 (10%) and State Sen. Raymond Garramone with 6,602 (1%).

John J. McNulty, Jr.: John J. McNulty, Jr. ("Jack" or "Big Jack") (1922–2009) was a Northern New York State, U.S.A. political power broker, who held a series of local political offices in Albany County, New York from 1949 and in 6 ensuing decades until the year 2002 and whose crowning political achievement was succeeding at having his son Michael R. McNulty elected to several successive terms as a United States Congressman.  Jack McNulty is said to have been a "co-congressman" for the 2 decades that his son served in the U.S. Congress, before his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008.  A fellow Democrat, Jack was a staunch opponent of the entrenched old guard Albany County Democratic political machine Democratic Party (U.S.A.), which was run by Dan O’Connell and which in a political in-fight had unseated his father John J. McNulty, Sr. as Sheriff of Albany County, New York back in 1937.  The high point of Jack's personal political career was when he recaptured that Sheriff's office, being, himself, elected Sheriff of the County of Albany, New York in 1973.  In later life, Jack was a beloved and respected elder statesman of Northern New York State.  The mention of his name at a year 2000 Democratic convention at the Times Union Center caused the full arena crowd of 11,000 people to rise in a spontaneous standing ovation.  "Jack McNulty's word was his bond."  – Democratic New York State Senator Neil Breslin, "For being 87, Jack knew how to change with the time.  Jack connected to people in their 20s."  – Albany County Democratic Chairman Dan McCoy, "the man I often introduced at Democratic Party events as the greatest Democrat I know."  – Rensselaer County Democratic Chairman Thomas Wade

Red states and blue states: Since the 2000 United States presidential election, red states and blue states have referred to states of the United States whose residents predominantly vote for either the Republican Party (red) or Democratic Party (blue) presidential candidates.  Since then, the use of the term has been expanded to differentiate between states being perceived as liberal and those perceived as conservative.

Joe Rospars: Joe Rospars is the founder of Blue State Digital.  Rospars was the New Media Director of Barack Obama's presidential campaign and for both the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.  Rospars also was Barack Obama's principal digital strategist and adviser.  He managed the digital integration of fundraising, communications, and mobilization of grassroots effort.  Prior to Obama's campaign, he worked with Governor Howard Dean at the Democratic National Committee, Dean's campaign for party chairman, and at Democracy for America, and on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.

Stanley Steingut: Stanley Steingut (May 20, 1920 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City – December 8, 1989 in New York City) was an American politician, New York Democratic Party leader, insurance brokerage owner and lawyer.  He took over his father's position as boss of Brooklyn County Democratic politics and eventually parlayed that position to become Speaker of the New York State Assembly.  Before reaching that office, Steingut engaged in a power struggle along with Reform Democrats beginning in the early-1960s, when he was an early and powerful supporter of Robert F. Kennedy's bid for Senate from New York. In the late 1950s he was an early supporter of then Senator John F. Kennedy’s bid for the nomination of the Democratic Party for the residency.  His support of both Kennedy’s caused a major rift with Tammany Hall Democrats led by then Mayor Wagner.  Those loyal to Wagner combined with Rockefeller Republicans deprived him of the Speakership in 1965 even though he had a great majority of the Democratic Assemblymembers.  He would not take over party leadership in the Assembly until 1969.  He considered his sponsorship of landmark legislation providing public educational services for the developmentally disabled his greatest legislative accomplishment.

Supporting paragraphs: Political party strength in New York Red states and blue states
Answer: Illinois