In the years leading up to the 2013 Illinois marriage-equality votes, many politicians fretted behind closed doors about the possible long-term effects of a vote in favor of gay marriage.
This was despite national statistics that show a more than 95-percent success rate for incumbent pro-marriage politicians—and it's nearly 100 percent for Democrats.
And in Illinois, as of mid-February, just seven House members who voted yes on SB10 will face primary challenges March 18.
"The right wing was constantly threatening us with the repercussions of this vote," added Rick Garcia of The Civil Rights Agenda, one of the groups that lobbied for the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. "But those didn't come to pass."
Many of the primary races have not featured the marriage vote as an issue; the 39th and 40th District races, for example, center to a large extent on discussions of "Chicago Machine" politics, while the 26th District race might just hinge on how voters respond to the incumbent's vote in favor of pension reform. In many cases, the challengers support marriage equality just as much as the incumbents.
But advocates are working to make sure voters turn out for House members who lent their weight in the marriage battle, which passed the House last fall with one vote to spare.
"Most of these are people who have been in office a long time and are used to taking difficult votes, but you always support the people who supported you," said state Rep. Greg Harris, chief sponsor of the marriage equality bill. "We have to stand up for the officials who stood up for us. Illinois has to reflect other states with marriage equality, where no elected official lost a seat over a marriage vote."
"In all of these races, the challenges are extremely aggressive," added Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "We're down to the last five weeks of the election now, and we really have to get behind the legislators who voted for our community."
To that end, the Equality Illinois PAC is running 18 phone banks, four days a week, through the day of the election to get out the vote for the LGBT community's legislative allies. Cherkasov emphasized that primary elections usually get low turnout, so it's important to pull the lever for pro-equality politicians, who very likely will be called upon to vote for equality-related issues again.
Garcia added, "I think that we have an opportunity on March 18 to firm up our supporters and thank those who hung in there with us until we reached the finish line. It's not enough that we succeed—in this case, our enemies must fail."
As of mid-February, only the following House incumbents who voted "yes" to SB10 had serious primary challengers; all were endorsed by Equality Illinois' PAC:
—26th District: Incumbent Democrat Christian Mitchell is being challenged by community organizer Jhatayn "Jay" Travis. Mitchell, at 26, is currently the House's youngest member and was a co-sponsor of the marriage equality bill. He is a protege of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. But he was one of several legislators targeted for protests in the days leading up to the pension reform bill; Mitchell voted in favor of the bill, which was opposed by numerous unions. Travis lined up support from several unions, among them Chicago Teachers Union and AFSCME District 31. At a Feb. 13 fundraiser in Boystown, Mitchell told Windy City Times, "They have some money now—so we know it's going to be a tough fight. These [education and pension reform] are hard issues, but voters I've talked to like what I've done."
—29th District: Incumbent Democrat Thaddeus Jones of Calumet City pledged his support to gay marriage early in 2013, saying it was "about making equality for everyone," according to nwitimes.com . He is currently running against Kenneth "Kenny" Williams of South Holland, formerly the president of the Thornton Township High School District 205 School Board. Williams was removed from his post because of a 29-year-old Indiana felony conviction; he has an appeal to that decision pending. State law does not preclude his running for a state legislative office, however. Williams is reportedly being significantly outspent by Jones, and has said he will spend the weeks leading up to the election attending public meetings to introduce himself to voters, nwitimes said Feb. 8. Nevertheless, multiple sources said that the election in this district, home to several church communities whose constituencies might not have been supportive of gay marriage, warrants close attention.
—39th District: Democrat Maria Antonia "Toni" Berrios, daughter of Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, who formerly held her seat, is being challenged by Will Guzzardi, a writer and former Huffington Post blogger. The two ran against one another in the 2012 election, when Berrios won by just 125 votes. Multiple sources expect this race to be close. Guzzardi has never held office, but in August he told dnainfo.com that his run was a "test case" for outsiders hoping to take on Chicago's established politicians.
Chicago Teachers Union has reportedly helped financially back Guzzardi, according to a Feb. 7 Huffington Post report; CTU objects to Berrios' support for pension reform and charter school expansion, as well as refusing to back an elected school board. Berrios has also been criticized for running an excessively negative campaign. Cherkasov of Equality Illinois said this race exemplified why it is important for voters to turn out in primary elections: "When Guzzardi ran against Berrios the first time, it was just a handful of votes that decided it."
—40th District: Incumbent Democrat Jaime Andrade Jr., came into his post just this last year when it was vacated by out lesbian Deb Mell, after she replaced her father, former Ald. Dick Mell, in his position. Andrade was previously an aid to Dick Mell. Among his challengers is openly lesbian Mel Ferrand, who got knocked off the ballot after her paperwork was challenged by opponents. She appealed the ruling and told Windy City Times Feb. 1 that she is still waiting for a decision.
Other opponents are attorney Nancy Schiavone, attorney Aaron Goldstein ( who handled the defense of ex-governor Rod Blagojevich ), activist Wendy Jo Harmston and engineer Mark Pasieka. At a Feb. 9 forum, each of the candidates painted themselves as offering a progressive alternative to machine-style politics, including Andrade, who said, every vote he casts "is in the best interest of this community—that's who I answer to." Equality Illinois PAC is endorsing Andrade by virtue of his marriage vote, among other factors. Garcia of TCRA said, "Andrade was there and was a friend to our community when it counted."
—51st District: Incumbent Ed Sullivan Jr., a Republican, announced his support for SB10 last April, explaining that his mother-in-law is a lesbian and that he was prepared to defend his decision on SB10. He was met with opposition from Illinois Families First, a Chicago-based PAC started by conservative activist Paul Caprio that received its initial funding from Lake Forest businessman Richard Uihlein, capitalfax.com reported. Sullivan's opponent in the primary is Bob Bednar, treasurer of the Lake County Republican Party. Bednar's campaign chairman is Lake County GOP vice chairman Jack Koenig, who has been a vocal opponent of marriage equality. Nevertheless, Bednar maintains that he is opposing Sullivan over government spending: He told the Daily Herald Jan. 27, "Jobs are leaving Illinois. When we lose that business we raise taxes on everyone else who has stayed."
—77th District: Incumbent Kathleen Willis is being challenged by Antonio "Tony" Favela, who maintains that Willis is not as "outsider" as she claims, the Daily Herald reported Feb. 1. This is the first term for Willis, who was formerly a librarian at Elmhurst College. She has had backing from Speaker Michael Madigan—"I'm not going to deny that I have the support of the Illinois Democrats, but they don't control me," she told Daily Herald. Willis was reportedly one of the final votes rounded up for SB10. Favela is a recent law school graduate who served on Melrose Park's zoning board.
—81st District: Incumbent Ron Sandack, a Republican, voted "yes" to SB10 after voting against civil unions, but said he changed his mind because gay marriage "promotes conservative values." Sandack's primary challenger, Keith Matune, a Downers Grove social studies teacher, has taken Sandack to task for the vote, calling on him to return money he received from gay marriage supporters, the Chicago Tribune reported Jan. 14. Since the gay marriage vote has been more central to this race, multiple sources say that it warrants close attention from LGBT rights advocates.
Other races:
—39th state Senate District: Incumbent Don Harmon co-sponsored SB10 in the state senate "and has long been a very good friend to our community," said Harris. Harmon, a top lieutenant to Senate President John Cullerton, also filed an amendment to SB10 that would have moved up the starting date for marriages from June. He is being challenged by attorney Bob Galhotra, who told the Daily Herald that his district needed a candidate who would not be "beholden" to the Democratic Party.
—Treasurer: Republican State Sen. Tom Cross, of Oswego, is facing off against DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan to be Republican candidate for Treasurer in November. Cross was a surprise "yes" vote on SB10. When the bill was being argued on the floor in November, he told of how a conversation with his father, a retired minister, was decisive in convincing him that he needed to vote in favor of marriage equality. The primary winner will go up against Democrat Mike Frerichs in November.
Non-incumbent House endorsements from Equality Illinois PAC: On Feb. 14, Equality Illinois PAC announced that the following non-incumbents had earned its endorsement in the House primary race: Mo Khan ( D-20th District ), Nicole Serbin ( D-37th District ), Debbie Miller ( R-65th District ) and Carol Ammons and Samuel Rosenberg ( D-103rd District ).
Phone bank information: Equality Illinois PAC will be running 18 phone banks for eight of their endorsed candidates Monday through Thursday, through March 18, from 5-9 p.m. The phone banks will be at Equality Illinois' headquarters, 17 N. State St., suite 1020. For more information, call office 773-477-7173 or e-mail either Lucy at lmsall@eqil.org or Patty atpdillon@eqil.org .
Follow Windy City Times in the coming weeks for more election coverage, including a guide to the gays, and endorsements from LGBT-friendly organizations .
