This year's elections feature a record number of openly LGBT candidates throughout Illinois. The following individuals have publicly stated that they are LGBT and were on the March 2018 primary election ballot as early January.
Gaylon Alcaraz
Race: Cook County Board of Commissioners ( 4th District )
Website: Gaylon2018.com
The skinny: Alcaraz, who was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame ( now the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame ) in 2013, is a lifelong Chicagoan who has made significant impacts in local progressive politics. She was a founding member of Affinity Community Services in 1997, and was executive director of Chicago Abortion Fund from 2005-2014, among her many accomplishments.
Kelly Cassidy
Race: Illinois state representative ( 14th District )
Website: citizensforcassidy.com
The skinny: Cassidy, who recently wed activist Candice Gingrich, has served her district since 2011. Seeking to get re-elected, Cassidy ( the only openly lesbian member of the General Assembly ) will clash with Arthur Noah Siegel in the primary.
Ebonie Davis
Race: Illinois state representative ( 25th District )
Website: https://www.eboniesdavis.com/
The skinny: Davis is one of almost 10 candidates vying for the seat that longtime state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie is vacating. Davis, a longtime advocate who has worked as an instructor and facilitator for Illinois Department Human Rights' Institute for Training and Development, has also been active in a number of community LGBT organizations, including Affinity Community Services and Equality Illinois.
Rev. Marcus Fogliano
Race: Peoria County Precinct Committeeman
Website: None
Only in their mid-20s, activist Fogliano ( who is president/CEO at Peoria Proud as well as part of the board of trustees at Interfaith alliance of Central Illinois ) stands to truly make history, as being elected would make them the first trans/genderqueer person elected to any office in Illinois.
Mike Forti
Race: 8th Subcircuit, Cook County judge ( Liu Vacancy )
Website: JudgeForti.com
The skinny: In September 2016, Judge Michael A. Forti was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Circuit Court of Cook County. He has backing from political heavyweights such as U.S Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Mike Quigley as well as Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.
Daniel Foster
Race: Cook County Board of Commissioners ( 13th District )
Website: commissionerfoster.com
The skinny: A current resident of Skokie, Foster was raised in Evanston and Wilmette, and obtained his BS in mathematics and computer science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Gaylon Alcaraz are vying to be the first members of the LGBT community to be Cook County commissioners.
Greg Harris
Race: Illinois state representative ( 13th District )
Website: GregHarris.org
The skinny: Harris, who was chief co-sponsor of SB10, the legislation that brought about marriage equality in Illinois, has a district that includes several North Side neighborhoods. Harris ( who was first elected to the state House in 2006, and is the first openly gay person in Illinois to become a member of legislative leadership ) is running unopposed in the March 20 primary.
Cecelia Horan
Race: Cook Circuit judge ( Hartigan Vacancy )
Website: voteforjudgehoran.com
The skinny: The Illinois Supreme Court appointed Horan was appointed a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County on Jan. 19, 2017. She is presently assigned to the First Municipal Division where she hears cases involving alleged breaches of contract, the rights of landlords and tenants, debtors and creditors, and traffic matters. Prior to her judicial appointment, Horan was a litigation partner at the 500-attorney law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, where she practiced for 20 years.
Raymond A. Lopez
Race: U.S. Congress ( 4th District )
Website: The15thWard.org
The skinny: Lopez is another of a fistful of Democratic candidates ( and one of two gay candidates, besides Carlos Ramirez-Rosa ) to seek election to this post. Lopez is the 15th Ward alderman in Chicago, having been elected in 2015. Lopez was first elected as Democratic Committeeman of the 15th Ward in 2012, becoming the first openly gay Mexican-American to be elected in Illinois.
Mike McHale
Race: Circuit Court of Cook County
The skinny: McHale, who handles cases in the Criminal Division, is running for retention this year. He was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame ( now the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame ) in 2005.
Stephanie Miller
Race: 6th Subcircuit, Cook County judge ( Lopez Cepero Vacancy )
Website: ElectJudgeStephanieMiller.com
The skinny: Miller ( a member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association and the Women's Bar Association of Illinois ) has almost two decades of experience handling both criminal and civil matters. Prior to her appointment, Miller was a prosecutor with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Kevin Morrison
Race: Cook County commissioner (15th District)
Website: KevinBMorrison.com
The skinny: A Democratic resident of Elk Grove Village, Morrison—who studied environmental sciences at DePaul University—is running against incumbent Commissioner Tim Schneider. The Chicago Federation of Labor is among those endorsing Morrison.
Jill Quinn
Race: 10th Subcircuit, Cook County judge ( Suriano Vacancy )
Website: VoteJillRoseQuinn.com
The skinny: Quinn's private practice experience includes working at general legal practices in Chicago, Bloomington, Lombard, Glen Ellyn and Franklin Park, where she handled a wide variety of case types. Throughout her career, she handled over 4,000 cases and performed appellate work. She is a member of the National LGBT Bar Association and Chicago LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Mary Colleen Roberts
Race: Circuit Court of Cook County
The skinny: Roberts is running for retention this year. She is a judge on the Cook County 11th Subcircuit in Illinois. She was elected in 2006 and was retained in 2012. Prior to the bench, Roberts was a hearing officer for the Cook County Circuit Court and assistant corporation counsel for the Chicago Law Department.
Lamont Robinson
Race: Illinois state representative ( 5th District )
Website: www.votelamontrobinson.com
The skinny: Robinson, who runs two Chicago Allstate Insurance offices, in Bronzeville and Humboldt Park, is aiming to fill the Illinois House's 5th District post currently held by state Rep. Juliana Stratton, who is running for lieutenant governor alongside gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker. Should he be elected, Robinson would be the first openly gay African-American state legislator in Illinois history. Interestingly, one of his primary opponents is Ken Dunkin, a neighbor of Robinson's who lost to Stratton in 2015.
Daniel Roldan-Johnson.
Race: U.S. Congress ( 14th District )
Website: VoteRoldan.com
The skinny: Should Roldan-Johnson win, he would be the first openly gay member of the U.S. Congress from Illinois. He attended Florida Atlantic University and DePaul University, where he met his husband, Christian. He's facing six opponents in the Democrat primaryand the winner gets Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren.
Debra Shore
Race: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioner
Website: https://www.debrashore.org/
The skinny: Shore has served on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board since 2006. She is a member of the Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership and served on the board ( and was past chair ) of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. She is running for her third six-year term in the 2018 election.
Brad Trowbridge
Race: Cook Circuit judge ( McGinnis Vacancy )
Website: bradforjudge.com
The skinny: As an attorney, Trowbridge has litigated cases in domestic relations, chancery, probate, and criminal divisions. Also, he currently is an adjunct faculty member at John Marshall Law School's Domestic Violence Clinic.
Ed Underhill
Race: 6th Subcircuit, Cook County judge ( Cooke Vacancy )
Website: http://edunderhillforjudge.com/
The skinny: Underhill is a trial attorney with more than 30 years of experience, and a Bucktown homeowner for the past 17 years. Underhill has been a member of the Chicago Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee and is a former president of the Northern Illinois University Alumni Council.
Sam Yingling
Race: Illinois state representative ( 62nd District )
Website: SamYingling.com
The skinny: Grayslake resident Yingling is running unopposed in the primary for his fourth term. He is the first openly gay House member from outside metropolitan Chicago. Yingling proposed to longtime partner Lowell Jaffe at the party former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn threw to celebrate the passage of Illinois' marriage-equality bill in 2013. ( They married in 2015. )
