"We really wanted to rush out of the gate early with our endorsements because these stakeholders have been the strongest supporters of the LGBT movement here in Illinois," Jeremy Gottschalk, president of Equality Illinois PAC's board of directors, said. "We want to make sure that those legislators who have repeatedly supported us in the past have the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits that our PAC endorsement involves as quickly as possible. They have proven themselves to be great allies to the LGBT community, and we want to thank them publicly for their support."

State Senate endorsements:

—Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-1)

—Sen. William Delgado (D-2)

—Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-3)

—Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-4)

—Sen. Annazette Collins (D-5)

—Sen. John Cullerton (D-6)

—Sen. Heather Steans (D-7)

—Sen. John Mulroe (D-10)

—Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-11)

—Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-13)

—Sen. Emil Jones III (D-14)

—Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-16)

—Sen. Donne Trotter (D-17)

—Sen. Maggie Crotty (D-19)

—Sen. Iris Martinez (D-20)

—Sen. Michael Noland (D-22)

—Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-28)

—Sen. Terry Link (D-30)

—Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-36)

—Sen. Don Harmon (D-39)

—Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-40)

—Sen. Linda Holmes (D-42)

—Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D-43)

—Sen. David Koehler (D-46)

—Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-52)

—Sen. James Clayborne, Jr. (D-57)

State House endorsements:

—Rep. Daniel Burke (D-1)

—Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-2)

—Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-3)

—Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-4)

—Rep. Kenneth Dunkin (D-5)

—Rep. Esther Golar (D-6)

—Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8)

—Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-12)

—Rep. Greg Harris (D-13)

—Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-14)

—Rep. Lou Lang (D-16)

—Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-18)

—Rep. Michael J. Madigan (D-22)

—Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-23)

—Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (D-24)

—Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25)

—Rep. Monique Davis (D-27)

—Rep. Robert Rita (D-28)

—Rep. William Davis (D-30)

—Rep. Mary Flowers (D-31)

—Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-32)

—Rep. Marlow Colvin (D-33)

—Rep. Al Riley (D-38)

—Rep. Maria Antonia Berrios (D-39)

—Rep. Deborah Mell (D-40)

—Rep. Keith Farnham (D-43)

—Rep. Fred Crespo (D-44)

—Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-55)

—Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-57)

—Rep. Carol Sente (D-59)

—Rep. Jack Franks (D-63)

—Rep. Angelo Saviano (R-77)

—Rep. Camille Lilly (D-78)

—Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-80)

—Rep. Emily McAsey (D-85)

—Rep. Jack McGuire (D-86)

—Rep. Jehan Gordon (D-92)

—Rep. Naomi Jakobsson (D-103)

—Former Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-113)

—Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr. (D-114)

The next round of legislative endorsements for open races will be announced mid-February and will be based on candidates' answers to Equality Illinois PAC's endorsement questionnaire and in-person interviews. Local and non-legislative endorsements will be announced in the coming weeks.

Equality Illinois

PAC issues more

endorsements

The Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC) has issued its final endorsements of candidates running for office in the March 20 primary election who have indicated strong support for LGBT issues.

"After meeting and talking with so many talented candidates for public office, we are extremely pleased with our slate of endorsed candidates in such an important election year for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement," Jeremy Gottschalk, president of the Equality Illinois PAC board of directors, said.

Endorsed state Senate candidates are:

—Senate District 9: Daniel Biss

—Senate District 15: Donna Miller

—Senate District 23: Thomas Cullerton

—Senate District 25: Steven Hunter, Corinne Pierog

—Senate District 29: Julie Morrison

Endorsed state House candidates are:

—House District 7: Rory Hoskins, Emanuel "Chris" Welch

—House District 10: Rep. Derrick Smith

—House District 11: Rep. Ann Williams

—House District 17: Laura Fine

—House District 19: Robert Martwick

—House District 21: Rudy Lozano

—House District 26: Christian Mitchell

—House District 34: Elgie Sims

—House District 45: JoAnn Franzen

—House District 50: Andrew Bernard

—House District 62: Sam Yingling

—House District 71: Mike Smiddy

—House District 84: Alex Arroyo, Carole Cheney

Endorsed candidate For Cook County state's attorney:

—State's Attorney Anita Alvarez

Endorsed candidate For Cook County Recorder Of Deeds:

—Karen Yarbrough

Endorsed candidate For Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner:

—Commissioner Debra Shore

Early endorsements for legislative races were issued Jan. 3 and were based on candidates' previous voting records on important LGBT issues. This latter round of endorsements for candidates without prior voting records was based on answers to Equality Illinois PAC's endorsement questionnaire, personal interviews and community input.