April 2 Elections ARE HERE.
It’s not even June and 2019 is shaping up to be a big year in politics. Between the barrage of Democratic presidential nominees; the will-they/won’t-they of the Mueller report, and some pretty fierce local elections, voters have proven that there is no such thing as an “off-year.”
In keeping with this energy, are today’s elections. April 2 will become a historic day, as Chicago gears up to elect its first Black female mayor. But that election is just one of many major moves happening across the country. Today, hundreds of first-time progressives are taking on incumbents who’ve been in office for decades.
We are thrilled to endorse 21 candidates running for office today. We have six college students, four educators, and numerous grassroots activists — all of whom decided to take a chance and run for local office.
Win or lose, we know that each candidate will continue to fight for improvements in their communities as activists, educators, lawyers, and yes, students. Check out the amazing candidates running for office today!
P.S. The 21 candidates you are about to meet are just a drop in the bucket. If you are interested in supporting other young progressives running for office, please lend your support here.
CANDIDATES
Adam Augustine
Bartlett Park District Commissioner, IL
For Adam and his young family, park district programming is what first made them feel like a part of the community. He is running to be a voice on the park district board that emphasizes program affordability and relevance and doing so in a way that fits within the busy schedules of working families like his own. With more than 15 years of experience in collegiate and youth athletics administration, Adam is a first-time candidate who will ensure that everyone in the community has access to the same types of programs that meant so much to his family.
Parth R Patel
Bartlett Public Library District Board — Trustee, IL
Parth is running for a 6 Year Term as a Bartlett Public Library District Trustee. A longtime resident of Bartlett, Parth combines his background as a CPA with his experience as a community activist to push for transformative social impact. He currently serves as a co-organizer with Fossil Free Bartlett, a local climate activist group, and he has previously served as an Admin with Action 6th District Illinois. Parth brings an orientation towards equity, justice, and solidarity to each role and project.
Jennifer Carrillo
Bloomington City Council, IL
Jenn Carrillo is an unapologetic progressive running to be the next Bloomington City Council Representative. As a queer woman of color and the daughter of a working-class family, she is deeply committed to advancing racial, gender and economic justice in her community. Jenn spent many years living in the US as an undocumented immigrant, and got her start in community organizing by leading a local movement to advance the rights of immigrants nearly ten years ago. She has continued to organize ever since. If elected, Jenn would be the first Latina and openly queer person ever elected to this seat.
Nicole Jeanine Johnson
Chicago Alderperson, 20th Ward, IL
Nicole Johnson says her life changed Dec. 23, 2011, when she came in contact with open gunfire. The third grade math teacher’s life mantra is, “Lifting as I climb,” which is what Johnson has done throughout her professional career. Her public service includes serving on the Local School Council, community development initiatives with Teamwork Englewood, and youth civic engagement with Chicago Votes; and steered the execution of the “Parade to the Polls” with Chance the Rapper in 2016.
Marianne Lalonde
Chicago Alderperson, 46th Ward, IL
Marianne Lalonde is a PhD scientist, a community leader, and a compassionate neighbor, running for City Council in Chicago’s 46th Ward. She aspires to be 46th Ward Alderman because she feels strongly that her diverse ward should be inclusive and accessible for all members of the community, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or mental health status. She is a champion of increasing access to neighborhood assets, affordable housing, and for gun violence prevention. Marianne would be the first scientist on Chicago’s city council, where her technical expertise will serve her not only to advocate for science based causes like sustainability, but to view data critically and effectively.
Stephanie Biegel
Village Trustee for Carol Stream , IL
Stephanie Biegel hopes to bring her experience as an accountant and community activist to the Village Trustee position in Carol Stream in order to bring transparency, accountability, accessibility and compassion to the village board. She is running for Village Trustee because she feels strongly that her community needs someone that will be a voice for all regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Her background as a CMA will help her bring her experience as an accountant to the board to ensure that the needs of the residents are balanced with their financial concerns.
Scott Casey
Blue Springs City Council District 1, MO
Scott Casey is a father of three and lifelong resident of Blue Springs who believes we can be doing more to support the people who live here. Scott is currently a member of the city’s Planning Commission, and when the city shut down the local recycling center last year, Scott founded a grassroots movement called Green Blue Springs to push back against the closure.
Matt Martin
Chicago Alderperson, 47th Ward, IL
Matt Martin is a civil rights attorney at the Illinois Attorney General’s office, where he has worked on police reform and immigration. He lives in Lincoln Square with his wife, Katelyn, and three-year-old son, Isaac. At home, he serves on the McPherson local school council, co-founded his neighborhood association, and served on Alderman Pawar’s Zoning Advisory Council.
Matthew Mitnick
Madison City Council, District 8, WI
Matthew Mitnick is an 18-year old freshman at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Matthew believes that residents in his heavily student populated district should be represented by a peer in local government who will advocate on their behalf. He is fighting for affordable housing, public safety, LGBTQ+ & women’s rights, sustainable development, quality mass transportation, environmental sustainability, and student engagement. Among Matthew’s passions are helping underserved kids and promoting public health, as he formed a nonprofit chapter to help low income youth and enjoys running marathons in his free time.
Matthew Gifford
Waukesha School Board of Education, WI
Matt is a 19-year-old college student running for one of three contested seats on the Waukesha School Board. Matt decided to run for School Board after seeing the lack of student representation and decisions made in young people’s interest. He is also the youngest openly gay candidate running for elected office in the country.
Dustin Good
Elgin City Council, IL
Dustin Good is a K-12 graduate of school district U-46 and Elgin Community College. Beyond his work experience in the fields of horticulture, automotive, and food service; Dustin has also spent his time in Elgin serving as Student Trustee, Strategic Adviser, and Downtown Neighborhood Association board member which has provided him ample exposure to the strengths and opportunities within Elgin. Since his time at Elgin Community College he has fought to help immigrant students gain access to scholarships, pushed for the city to partner with ClearGov, and currently serves as chair of Elgin’s farmer market. Dustin wishes to further his service to Elgin by serving on City Council.
Jonathan Reinoso
Grayslake D127 School Board Member, IL
Jonathan Reinoso is a 23 year old high school Spanish teacher who is looking for the opportunity to further serve here in the D127 community.
After graduating from Grayslake Central High School in 2013, Jonathan went off to college at the University of Minnesota where he set to become a Spanish teacher. Upon completing his degree, Jonathan came home to Grayslake where he began working in D46 (PreK-8th), first as a substitute teacher and shortly after as a bilingual elementary school teacher. Currently, Jonathan and his family live in Grayslake, IL where they’ve lived for over 20 years.
Nathaniel Booker
Village of Maywood Trustee, IL
Nathaniel George Booker is running for Village of Maywood Trustee to address Maywood being in the bottom 10% in Cook County for highest property tax water cost out of 162 communities. Booker will also put an emphasis on not only economic development in business growth, but community economic development in investment. We must address our unemployment, living below the poverty level, education, receiving government aide, and more. We know we are at our best when we are united. As a Trustee, he will work on moving our businesses and our residents forward to toward community economic prosperity.
Michael Negron
Chicago Alderperson, 47th Ward, IL
Michael is a lifelong Chicagoan with 15 years of experience in public service. He served in the Navy after college and worked for both President Obama and Elizabeth Warren in Washington during the depths of the financial crisis. In 2011, Michael returned to Chicago to be a policy advisor to Mayor Emanuel where he helped raise the minimum wage, create a free community college program for Chicago Public Schools students that graduate with a B average, and establish a legal defense fund for undocumented residents. Michael was raised in a union, immigrant household and graduated from Harvard Law School.
Erich Schwenk
Village of Mundelein Trustee, IL
Erich Schwenk is running for Village of Mundelein Trustee. As an active member in the community, Erich serves on the board of directors for the Mundelein Business Alliance and Lake County Junior Chamber (Jaycees), where he serves as president. Erich is passionate about improving Mundelein’s infrastructure, ensuring fiscal responsibility and transparency. As a longtime advocate, Erich has supported those in need. Whether that’s standing with his neighbors after their homes flooded, helping a small business, or standing with the local firefighter’s union, Erich supports his community and is ready to serve as a Trustee for the Village of Mundelein.
Alex Campbell
Normal Town Council, IL
Alex is hoping to become the first student and the youngest ever member elected to the Normal Town Council. Alex wants to fight for more affordable housing, more job/internship opportunities for students, and to give voice to those that feel neglected by the town.
Aaron Chess
Peoria City Council At-Large, IL
Aaron chess 21 years old is a native of Peoria, IL who is running to become the next Peoria city councilman- At Large in the city of Peoria. Inspired by then Senator Obama Presidential Campaign back in 2007 Aaron has been active on various politicalu campaigns ranging from President Obama’s Re-election campaign in 2012 to congressional and local campaigns. During his senior year at Richwoods highschool Aaron advocated for adding a student delegate seat to the Peoria public school’s school board. The motion was adopted and now thanks to Aaron three students from each of the three high schools in Peoria now have a student delegate seats. Aaron is the youngest candidate on the ballot.
Austin Strassle
Kansas City City Council, 4th District At-Large, MO
Austin is a mental health caseworker for individuals experiencing homelessness. He sees the struggle that too many in his community face on a daily basis. Austin believes that Kansas City’s success should not be measured by what new development project is breaking ground, but instead by what is being done to protect the most vulnerable in the city. He is committed to addressing issues of housing affordability, economic inequality, and disparities in education and health care. He knows that this requires moving away from the traditional politics that have ruled Kansas City and taking bold, progressive action rooted in public servitude.
Tracee Miller
Board Member, St. Louis Public Schools, MO
Tracee Miller, a former St. Louis Public Schools teacher and academic program manager, is running for a position on the district’s Board. She is running because every child deserves a world-class education, and right now St. Louis is failing to provide the quality curricula, humanizing disciplinary policies, effective professional development, financial transparency, or fair and constructive evaluative processes necessary to make this a reality. Tracee works for Khan Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. She is a PhD student in Education Policy and hopes to spend her life and career fighting for equity in education.
Avra Reddy
Madison City Council, District 8, WI
Avra is a 19 year-old student at University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 2016 she worked as a fellow for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, fighting for progressive candidates. Following her fellowship, Avra served as a student representative for 2 years on her district school board in her hometown of Grayslake, Illinois. In 2018, Avra returned to Madison to attend school at UW. During her first semester she worked on the 2018 midterms, helping democrats in Wisconsin sweep the ballot. After witnessing women of color like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez win elections during midterms, Avra was inspired to run for office.
Jamie McClendon
Racine County Circuit Court Judge, WI
Jamie McClendon is a strong, compassionate woman running for Racine County Circuit Court Judge. She has represented the people of Racine County in over 1300 cases since 2011. She has devoted her career to keeping children out of the juvenile and criminal justice system and will continue to focus on eliminating the school to prison pipeline. Jamie will be the first person of color in Racine County and only the fourth black women in the State of Wisconsin to sit on the circuit court bench. Racine deserves to have a judge that is focused on protecting justice for all people.
