The bad political news: Well, you know. The good news: In response, there are thousands of women running for office in Chicago, all over the country and the world.
Emily’s List, considered the largest national resource for women in politics, reported in December 2017 that more than 25,000 women had contacted the organization about running for office since the 2016 disaster, er, election. And more than 8,000 people had signed up to help women run for office.
And if you know of a woman who you’d love to see in an elected office, the organization She Should Run has an Ask a Woman to Run for Office tool that lets you submit their names. The group has set out to get 250,000 women to run by the year 2030. #250KBY2030
Here in Chicago, to keep the momentum of this year’s Women’s March to the Polls going, we’re compiling a list of women candidates. As a bonus, we’ve also included women running for statewide office who aren’t in the Chicago area. We’ve also got a list of steps you can take to make sure you’re ready for the March 20, 2018, primary and the Nov. 6 general election.
This ambitious list is very much a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions, recommendations or candidates’ names, please let us know!
| First Name | Last Name | Running For | Party | General Election? | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaylon | Alcaraz | Cook County Board of Commissioners, 4th District | D | No | www.gaylon2018.com/ |
| Bushra | Amiwala | Cook County Commissioner, 13th District | D | No | www.amiwala2018.com/ |
| Alma | Anaya | Cook County Commissioner, 7th District | D | Yes | almaforcookcounty.com/ |
| Becky | Anderson Wilkins | 6th Congressional District | D | No | www.beckyforillinois.com/ |
| Patricia | Avery | Lieutenant Governor | D | No | hardimanforillinois.org/ |
| Maria M. | Barlow | Cook County Board of Commissioners, 4th District | No | www.maria4commissioner.com/ | |
| Alyssia | Benford | State Representative, 98th District | R | Yes | www.alyssiabenford.com/ |
| Amanda | Biela | State Representative, 15th District | R | Yes | amandabiela.com/ |
| Cynthia | Borbas | State Representative, 45th District | D | Yes | www.cynthiaborbas.com/ |
| Rivanda | Boss Beal | Cook County Judge, 15th Subcircuit | D | No | dossbeal4judge.com/ |
| Felicia N. | Bullock | State Representative, 5th District | D | No | www.feliciabullock.com/ |
| Kelly M. | Burke | State Representative, 36th District | D | Yes | www.ilga.gov/house/rep.asp?MemberID=2382 |
| Mary | Carvlin | State Representative, 28th District | D | No | www.marycarvlinforstaterep.com/ |
| Kelly M. | Cassidy | State Representative, 14th District | D | Yes | www.repcassidy.com/ |
| Grace | Chan McKibben | State Representative, 25th District | D | No | gracechanmckibben.org/ |
| Carole | Cheney | 6th Congressional District | D | No | caroleforcongress.com/ |
| Candance | Chow | State Representative, 17th District | D | No | www.candancechow.com/ |
| Angelique N. | Collins | State Representative, 25th District | D | No | www.friendsforangeliquecollins.com/ |
| Melissa | Conyears-Ervin | State Representative, 10th District | D | Yes | www.conyearservin.com/ |
| Sadia | Covert | DuPage County Board, 5th District | D | No | www.voteforcovert.com/ |
