Vote for Everyday People on Tuesday

Last week we completed our goal of knocking on over 10,000 doors and talking to thousands of neighbors across the 20th District. If you ever need to restore your faith in humanity, go knock on the doors of your neighbors. You will find that we all share common goals and common needs. We live in a world that accentuates our differences but in real life we are all very similar. We all want to be heard. We all want to be treated fairly. We all want to live our lives in peace. 

We heard so many of the same concerns from one side of the district to the other, concerns about safety and concerns about working people being able to survive and thrive in this city. Our campaign’s platform, our Action Plan for Working Families, was created from these thousands of conversations with our neighbors. It wasn’t created by consultants, lobbyists, or in a political think tank. It was crowdsourced by thousands of conversations on front porches. It was created by everyday people for everyday people. 

What they told us was that it was getting harder and harder for everyday people to live in this city.

What they told us was that it was getting harder and harder for everyday people to live in this city. I think about the woman in Belmont Cragin who had spent the last 20 years caring for her mother with dementia and was asking why there weren’t more programs in place to help caregivers. I think about the mom picking up her kid from Goethe Elementary in Logan Square who wasn’t sure she was going to be able to stay in the neighborhood because of rising rents. I think of another parent in Avondale who was concerned about public safety and that no one seemed to listen to him. And I think about the kind women who lived near Horner Park who invited me in for a cup of tea, and told me that even though they were gay and had been involved in the Labor Movement for years that they no longer felt welcome in their own movement because they were also Jewish. So many stories of people feeling unseen, unheard, or unwelcome. 

These are people who we are fighting for. They aren't the loudest or the most connected, but they are the backbone of this city and they deserve better representation. Tomorrow, on Tuesday March 19th, I ask you to vote for them and to Punch 63 For Everyday People.