Attention all voters: Primary elections take place March 20, and if you are wondering who will appear on your ballot, check out our round-up of candidates that will appear on the Logan Square ballot. Below we’ve outlined information about each candidate to help you (and us) know which way to lean when voting.
For each politician, we provided professional and political background information, some highlights from each candidate’s campaign platform and a link to their website (when available). We’ve listed candidates for both Democratic and Republican ballots.
To view a specific office, click any of the links below to jump down the page:
Attorney General | Secretary of State | Comptroller | Treasurer | U.S. House of Representatives | State Senator | Illinois House of Representatives | Judges
Governor and Lieutenant Governor — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Daniel Biss
Running Mate: Litesa Wallace
Biss is currently in the Illinois State Senate representing the 9th District. His background includes time in the Illinois House of Representatives and as an assistant mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, and is a noted middle class family man.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Tax reform to better fund schools and social services, single-payer healthcare
- More protection for citizens with student loans (Biss co-sponsored the Student Loan Bill of Rights, which takes effect Dec. 31, 2018)
- An initiative called Rewriting the Rules, which is “six proposals to build a political system that serves the interests of everyday people” (posted on his website)
Candidate: Bob Daider
Running Mate: Jonathan Todd
Daider is currently the Madison County Superintendent of Schools, a title he has held since 2006. His background includes multiple elections to the Madison County Board, as well as farming and teaching.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Call for a graduated tax scale to stabilize the budget
- Investment in infrastructure, with an emphasis on diverse hiring
- A pledge to fight right-to-work laws
Candidate: Tio Hardiman
Running Mate: Patricia Avery
Hardiman is currently the Executive Director of Violence Interrupters NFP. His background includes time at both Governor State University and North Park University as a Criminal Justice Adjunct Professor, as well as Director of CeaseFire Illinois. He previously ran for Governor in 2014. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery but received no conviction.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Balancing the budget by putting a tax on transactions at the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Board of Operations Exchange
- Increase funding for programs that reduce crime and help undocumented immigrants
- Focusing on Advancing the Development of Minority Entrepreneurship (ADME)
Candidate: Chris Kennedy
Running Mate: Ra Joy
Kennedy currently works in real estate development. His background includes work for his family investment firm, Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, Inc, time as Chairman of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, president of Merchandise Mart, and co-founder (with his wife) of Top Box foods, a hunger-relief non-profit.
Kennedy received endorsement from the Chicago Tribune for the Democratic party.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Support for a single-payer system
- Would fight for the minimum wage to be $15
- Supports Illinois as a sanctuary state
Candidate: Robert Marshall
Running Mate: Dennis Cole
Marshall is currently a radiologist. His previous experience includes time on the Burr Ridge Board of Trustees, as previous director for the PAV YMCA club in Berwyn, and also as a member of the Burr Ridge/Willowbrook Chamber of Commerce.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Calls to Repeal of Citizens United and term limits
- Decreasing the Medicare age to 64
- Increasing the statute of limitations for rape
Candidate: JB Pritzker
Running Mate: Juliana Stratton
Pritzker is a venture capitalist who founded Pritzker Group Venture Capital in the 90s. He was Chairman of ChicagoNEXT, founded non-profit incubator 1871, and is the co-founder of Pritzker Group Private Capital and Chicago Ventures.
Pritzker received endorsement from the Chicago Sun-Times for the Democratic party.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Plans to restore social services that were cut during Rauner’s time in office
- Suggests creating a Cannabis Equity Program to increase diversity in the economic benefits of marijuana legalization
- Efforts to work with the Illinois Department of Public Health to treat gun violence as a public health epidemic
Governor and Lieutenant Governor — Republican ballot
Candidate: Jeanne Ives
Running Mate: Rich Morthland
Ives is currently a member of the Illinois State House representing the 42nd District. She served in the U.S. Army and also spent time on the Wheaton City Council and as a bookkeeper and tax advisor.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- She plans to institute a 1% (of home value) hard cap on property taxes
- Rescinding the 32% income tax increase
- Repealing Illinois’ sanctuary state status
Candidate: Bruce Rauner (Incumbent)
Running Mate: Evelyn Sanguinetti
Rauner is the current governor of Illinois, a position he has held since 2015. Previously he was a businessman, founding venture firm R8 Capital Partners and serving as Chairman for GTCR, a private equity firm. He was also Chairman of Choose Chicago and the Chicago Public Education Fund.
Rauner received endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune for the Republican party.
Highlighted campaign issues include:
- Plans to roll back the 32% income tax increase and give families a $1 billion tax cut
- Getting rid of illegal patronage hires and creating maps with fair voting districts
- Creating more green energy jobs in Illinois
Attorney General — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Scott Drury
Drury is currently a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 58th District. He is a former federal prosecutor. His main stance for election is fighting corruption in politics. Drury notes on his website that he is “the only Democrat in 30 years not to vote for Mike Madigan for Speaker of the House.”
Candidate: Sharon Fairley
Fairley’s professional background includes times as a federal prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General. She also served time as Chief Administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). Fairley states that her priorities are “fostering government integrity,” criminal justice reform, and civil rights protection such as threats to minority groups and more gun legislation on federal and state level.
Fairley received endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune for the Democratic ballot.
Candidate: Aaron Goldstein
Goldstein is currently the 33rd Ward Democratic Alderman. His past experience includes time as an attorney (both as a public defender and in private practice). Goldstein says his main priorities if elected will be fighting big banks, corporations, and White House policies that hurt Illinoisans, achieving criminal justice reform, and fighting political corruption. On his website, he says he will “mandate LGBTQ diversity and inclusion training for all AG employees.
Candidate: Renato Mariotti
Mariotti is currently a lawyer in the private sector. His professional background includes time as a federal prosecutor. He says that his first priority if elected is to fight against the Trump administration, particularly regarding immigration policies and the Affordable Care Act. He is a co-chair of Lawyers4Choice, which is part of a larger group called Men4Choice, which acts to get men involved in advocating for women’s reproductive rights.
Candidate: Pat Quinn
Quinn was the 41st Governor of Illinois, serving from 2009 – 2015. He replaced Rod Blagojevich after he was impeached, and then was elected for a second full term. His professional background includes State Treasurer for Illinois from 1991 – 1995, and time as a tax attorney. Quinn says that if elected, he would fight price gouging from big banks, support utility payment plans for low income residents, raise the minimum wage, and protect the Affordable Care Act.
Candidate: Kwame Raoul
Raoul has been an Illinois State Senator since 2004, when he took Barack Obama’s seat after he was elected to the United States Senate. He is also a practicing attorney and law partner. Raoul believes in raising the minimum wage, has called for stricter extortion laws, helped with the passage of the Illinois Voting Rights Act, and has worked to strengthen penalties against gun traffickers and offenders.
Candidate: Nancy Rotering
Rotering is currently Mayor of Highland Park; she has held this office since 2011. Her professional career involves time spent in accounting and practicing law, and she spent two years on the Highland Park City Council before being elected as Mayor. Rotering led a ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines in Highland Park in 2013, and she is a member on the Board of Planned Parenthood Illinois.
Candidate: Jesse Ruiz
Ruiz is currently a lawyer at Drinker Biddle & Reath and also President of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners. He said in an interview with the Belleville News Democrat that if he won, his top priorities would be “fighting public corruption, fighting for criminal justice reform, and fighting against the Trump agenda of rolling back our civil and workplace rights, immigration policy and environmental regulations.”
Ruiz is endorsed by Alderman Joe Moreno, who serves the Logan Square area, and U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, who also serves the Logan Square area (part of Chicago’s 4th District).
Attorney General — Republican ballot
Candidate: Gary Grasso
Grasso was previously Mayor of Burr Ridge, and has spent time on the DuPage County board and as Chairman of the DuPage 911 Board, and as a litigator. Grasso’s campaign is focused on a few key issues: fighting the opioid epidemic (a recent statistic says that opioid overdose cases in the ER jumped 70 percent in the Midwest over a 14-month period), corruption investigations, term limits, ending the status of Illinois as a sanctuary state, and election fraud.
Candidate: Erika Harold
Harold is currently a practicing attorney. Her past experience includes time on the Illinois Supreme Court Committees and on the board of directors for Prison Fellowship. She also was Miss America 2003; she entered the content in order to win a scholarship to attend Harvard Law School. Harold states her priorities as Attorney General would be combating political corruption, addressing the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and protection against harassment.
Harold received endorsements from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune for the Republican ballot.
Secretary of State — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Jesse White (Incumbent)
Jesse White is currently the Illinois Secretary of State. He is our state’s longest serving Secretary of State; he was first elected to this office in 1998. He previously served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds and spent time in the Illinois General Assembly. He was also previously in the Illinois National Guard, an Army reservist, a public school teacher and administrator, and was a Chicago Cubs major league prospect in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
White’s platform is focused on road safety (particularly regarding drunk driving and distracted driving), protecting fraud and identity theft, supporting military veterans, and promoting organ and tissue donation.
Secretary of State — Republican ballot
Candidate: Jason Helland
Helland is currently the Grundy County State’s Attorney. He previously worked as the Assistant State’s Attorney at the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of St. Francis.
Helland has chosen to run for Secretary of State due to the financial problems plaguing Illinois, which he blames on career politicians. He says he would focus on cutting the state budget and wants term limits for constitutional offices in Illinois, particularly given how long Secretary of State Jesse White and Speaker of the House Michael Madigan have held office.
Comptroller — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Susana Mendoza (Incumbent)
Mendoza was elected as Illinois Comptroller in 2016. Prior to holding this office, she was the Chicago City Clerk and an Illinois State Representative for the 1st District. As Chicago City Clerk, she overhauled the city vehicle sticker program to model it after the license plate renewal program, and she passed a city-wide ban on the sale of pets from puppy mills. She is campaigning as a comptroller who will be an “independent truth-telling fiscal watchdog,” who will run a transparent and efficient office, and will work toward more efficient maintenance and control of funds.
Fun fact: last year she chased a car after witnessing a hit-and-run.
Comptroller — Republican ballot
Candidate: Darlene Senger
Senger was most recently the Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs for Governor Rauner. In the past she was a member of the Naperville City Council, and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015. Though her campaign platform doesn’t seem to outline specific issues she’d like to address, she has noted that she thinks it’s time to reform a corrupt system in Illinois. In 2011, as State Representative, she passed a measure for stricter regulations of abortion clinics.
Treasurer — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Michael Frerichs (Incumbent)
Frerichs has been Illinois State Treasurer since 2015. He was previously in the Illinois State Senate, representing the 52nd District, and spent time on the Champaign County Board and as the Champaign County Auditor. Frerichs’s campaign is focused on initiatives to create or retain jobs in Illinois, increasing access to Illinois’ 529 college savings programs, supporting farmers, and working to keep an ethical treasury office.
Treasurer – Republican ballot
Candidate: Jim Dodge
Dodge has mainly worked in the private sector, focusing on consulting and analytics. He is currently a Village Trustee and Mayor Pro Tem for the Village of Orland Park. His background includes various elected positions for Orland Park, and time as a sergeant in the Illinois National Army Guard. Dodge’s campaign is focused on fixing past financial mismanagement, including pension deficits and tax increases, slow economic growth and the issue of residents moving out of Illinois.
U.S. House of Representatives — 4th Congressional District — Democratic ballot
Candidate: Sol Flores
Flores is the founder of La Casa Norte, a non-profit that offers housing and services to homeless minorities in Chicago. In the past, she has served as board of director for various organizations including The Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund and the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation. Some of Flores’s campaign issues include gun control, such as banning gun purchases across state lines, fighting for Planned Parenthood and a woman’s right to choose, and support for a Medicare for All system.
Candidate: Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
Garcia is currently a Cook County Commissioner. In the past he has held office as an Illinois State Senator, the Chicago Alderman for the 22nd Ward, and as a Committeeman for the 22nd Ward. Some of his priorities, if chosen for office, would be immigration reform, universal health care, and helping Puerto Rico rebuild after Hurricane Maria.
Garcia received endorsements from current 4th District Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez and Senator Bernie Sanders.
Candidate: Richard Gonzalez
Gonzalez is currently a Chicago Police Sergeant and president of non-profit Metropolitan Housing and Development Corporation (MHDC). Highlights from Gonzalez’s campaign issues include adding more policemen to the 4th District, more services and benefits for veterans, keeping Chicago a sanctuary city, and focusing on affordable housing.
U.S. House of Representatives — 4th Congressional District —Republican ballot
Candidate: Mark Wayne Lorch
Mark Wayne Lorch is running unopposed on the Republican ballot. Lorch does not have a website and it is tough to find his professional history and campaign stances online. Based on his Facebook page, he supports DACA but doesn’t believe non-U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in elections, is supportive of the transgender community, and believes in legalizing marijuana.
State Senate
The 60647 zip code spans four different State Senate Districts. To find out which candidate is running in your district, visit BallotReady.org.
Illinois House of Representatives
The 60647 zip code spans six State House Districts. To find out which candidate is running in your district, visit BallotReady.org. If you’re in the 4th District, LoganSquarist recently covered a candidate forum.
Judges of the Circuit Court
All candidates for these vacancies are Democratic.
Three bar groups—the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and the Illinois State Bar Association— review each candidate’s judicial record and publish ratings regarding their qualifications for the court. We’ve listed each candidate’s ratings below.
Judges of the 6th Subcircuit
All candidates for these vacancies are Democratic.
Three bar groups—the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and the Illinois State Bar Association— review each candidate’s judicial record and publish ratings regarding their qualifications for the court. We’ve listed each candidate’s ratings below.
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