Activist and attorney Andrea Zopp has been locked in a heated primary race against U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth and state Sen. Napoleon Harris III to eventually try to unseat Senator Mark Kirk in the U.S. Senate.
Zopp, a former prosecutor and executive, was for many years the president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, where she led that organization's work on expanding economic opportunity and advocating for social justice. She says criminal justice reform would be a major goal should she be elected; she'd like to see less incarceration for minor criminal offenses, and more community and legal resources offered that would lessen recidivism. She also wants to see the federal government take a leading role in bringing different constituencies, among them the LGBT community, together to access the public's relationship with law enforcement.
She faces considerable challenges from her primary opponents, both of whom have long been part of the state's political scene. Zopp also was a member of the Chicago Public Schools board when it closed several city schools. But she says she brings the right experience to put Kirk's Senate seat into Democratic hands in the 2016 election.
WCT: Why should Democratic voters cast their ballot for you this March 15?
AZ: I'm in this race on the breadth of experience that I bring, that no other candidate has, on the issues that are going to make a difference for families in this state, whether it's for criminal justice reform—not just my 13 years as a prosecutor, but as a leader, making sure that the criminal justice system works for everyone.
Whether it's my 10 years as a business executive, breaking the glass ceiling ( for women, or people of color in corporate America ), representing that voice, and helping to create opportunities for women, men, people of color, diverse communities in the business community. I fought hard for opportunities in the business sector. I understand how businesses think, how they make decisions to invest, and, also, how to hold them accountable to be good corporate citizens.
I also spent the last five years working in the community, in the Chicago Urban League, helping to create jobs, helping to grow small businesses and helping our young people to be successful in school. These issues—economic development, education, criminal justice reform and violence reduction—are the things I've been working on. No other candidate has that background or experience, or most importantly, a track record of getting results. … I have a track record of action and results. That's what voters are looking for. I'm not a politician. That's why I think Democratic voters will support me in March.
WCT: What is a federal legislator's responsibility when their home state becomes embroiled in a legislative quagmire, as Illinois has?
AZ: There are two pathways there for the U.S. senator. The first is to make sure that we're still making investments in Illinois, whether it's infrastructure investments in transportation, like the Red Line repairs, or the investments helping to repair the runways at O'Hare—investments that are helping to instill confidence in Illinois so that federal dollars will still come and support the programs and small businesses.
The second role is as a senior leader in the political establishment in this state, to be a voice. President Obama was here to talk to the legislature today, to say, "You've got to find a way to come together." Will the senator fix it on their own? No. But I can certainly be a voice to raise the perspective of the people who are impacted. I've worked with them and see them all the time.
WCT: Should we again find ourselves with a Congress that sets out on an obstructionist path, how would you handle it?
AZ: I have a lot of experience of working in very tough environments, where I'm relatively unique as a woman and person of color, and oftentimes with people I have not been able to agree with, to see eye to eye. But I've still been able to get things done. That's a real skill. Are there going to be people who aren't going to want to move an agenda forward? Yes. But there are others on both sides of the aisle who are striving. There is bipartisan criminal justice legislation. There's bipartisan legislation on infrastructure investments. The key is to to find the pathways to get things done. That's how I think you can help move through the gridlock—identify the areas where you can have some successes and move forward.
WCT: What aspects of Sen. Kirk's tenure have you found most objectionable?
AZ: Sen. Kirk, because of a couple of socially moderate positions, tries to leverage that into being a moderate. That's a stance people have to be very careful about. The fact is, other than those two positions, he's very much a conservative. The votes that trouble me the most are the continuing votes against the Affordable Care Act. That is classic, non-functioning government. It's not going to happen. The Affordable Care Act is here. It's constitutional. Let's make it figure out how to work for everybody. That, to me, epitomizes that my-way-or-the-highway kind of thinking that drives government gridlock. He's that kind of Republican, and that's why he has to go.
WCT: What do you see as concerns that are pertinent to downstate constituents that might differ from constituents in Chicago?
AZ: Downstate they have concerns about maintaining a large agricultural business, and if that will continue to be supported. They have concerns about making sure that the businesses that we have in this state are thriving, whether it's ABM or Caterpillar. Every time they have reductions, it impacts downstate communities. Same thing with companies like Exelon; they're concerned with economic growth as well. We want companies to come invest in the state and continue to be employers down there, just as we do in Chicago.
WCT: One of the more controversial aspects of your record is your service on the CPS board, which took place both while Barbara Byrd-Bennett was CEO, and 50 Chicago schools were closed. What have you taken away from your service to the board? Is there anything you would have done differently during your time there?
AZ: I agreed to go on the school board because I'm passionate about education and making sure that every student has opportunities to succeed. The fact is, when I went on the school board, CPS was not providing a quality education to all their students. There is still room to grow, but we advanced, and made progress on that goal. If you look at outcomes for students, overall or across the district—whether scores, freshmen on tracks, graduation rates or college attendance rates—those are all up, and we have more choice and performing schools across the district.
We had to close 50 schools. That was very hard and challenging, but we lost 100,000 students in the school district and we had students who were stuck in underperforming schools. I felt very strongly that students—particularly brown and Black students—needed to have a chance to succeed. The overwhelming majority of students that we moved to new schools are in better educational environments today.
As to Dr. Byrd-Bennett, she came here with a strong track record as a leader in urban education. She built deep relationships with the Chicago Teachers Union and Karen Lewis, the president. But unbeknownst to us, she also came to defraud, which was offensive and outrageous. She misled a lot of people, myself included, and I certainly regret that she came here to do that.
WCT: What work have you done on behalf of the gay and lesbian community, and what do you see as their most pressing issues? What work can be done at the federal legislative level on their behalf?
AZ: I've been a strong advocate for the LGBT community for most of my career. When I was at the prosecutor's office, we fought for the hate crimes bill, and we fought to include sexual orientation in the definition of what was a hate crime. That included training for law enforcement across the state. We also hired the first LGBT advocate for the state's attorney's office because I felt that the LGBT community was being victimized. That was back in the '90s. I've led the Urban League as a leading organization in the fight for marriage equality, something I'm proud to have done. The next level is making sure we get the Equality Act passed. Now you can get married but you can get fired for getting married, and we have to change that.
WCT: What can be done at the federal level about homeless youth, a good number of whom are LGBT?
AZ: Making sure that you recognize that, for the LGBT youth community, a lot of the issues are heightened, because they face a whole other level of discrimination. So, for example, when we look at LGBT youth of color, they have significant issues, sometimes greater. At the federal level, we have to make sure we're funding those programs, providing funding to address those issues and understanding that access to support services is critically important.
WCT: What do you see as the most pertinent issues for the transgender community?
AZ: There is heightened awareness around issues with their interaction, for example the school issues. We just have to continue to recognize the civil rights of that community, and recognize how we engage the transgender community, understanding that's an equal part of the civil rights fight. Sometimes the transgender community gets left out of the discussion. From my perspective as a civil-rights advocate, I will fight hard to not to let that happen.
WCT: In your first response, you said, "I am not a politician." What does that mean to you?
AZ: Coming at this from a fresh perspective. What I bring to the table is someone who speaks from the perspective of those impacted by the decisions that elected officials make. I'm focused on driving results for everyday people.
Having worked closely with the LGBT community on marriage equality, when I am thinking about the Equality Act, I'm not just thinking about whether it's a good act, I'm thinking about all the people I know, that I have worked with, that this will impact on a daily basis. ... I come at it from the very different perspective of the real work that I'll be doing as a member of the U.S. Senate, in the real everyday sense—which I think is something politicians tend to forget.
See AndreaZoppForSenate.com .
