Tuesday was Illinois’ first chance in the voting booth to respond to all that Trump has let loose on our communities and country, and we are heartened by some big wins that bode well for our ability to fight back to protect our environment and our future.
Sierra Club made endorsements in 34 contested primaries for local, state, and federal office in the March primary, and 25 of these candidates emerged victorious, including 12 incumbent champions and 13 who will be serving in new leadership roles in 2027!
We were proud to stand with Juliana Stratton, our next United States Senator! Sierra Club has worked with Juliana since 2016, first in the Illinois House to fight back against Trump’s first rollbacks, and as our Lt. Governor and chair of the Illinois Rivers Coordinating Council. Our next congressional delegation will also include Daniel Biss, one of Illinois’ strongest mayors on climate action. Illinois will be a key force in fighting Trump’s fossil fuel agenda and beginning to repair the damage done to our clean air and water safeguards and the agencies we count on to enforce them.
It has never been more important that Illinois lead the charge on climate, and stay on course for our fossil-free energy goals, and we are very excited to welcome several incoming members of the General Assembly to move Illinois forward. Patrick Hanley, an activist working to get his Winnetka community off of coal-fired power, won the nomination in the 12th Senate District. Shantel Franklin won nomination in the 8th House district on Chicago’s west side, and wants to address flooding, air pollution, and a lack of green spaces in her community. Paul Kendrick won in the 12th Disrict on Chicago’s north side, and will fight to protect Lake Michigan and our clean energy future. Saba Haider, chair of DuPage County’s Environmental Committee won in the 84th District in the west suburbs with a track record of protecting natural areas and water quality, and Miguel Alvelo-Rivera, who won in the 40th District on Chicago’s northwest side, want to work for better public transportation, and safe bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Maria Peterson has long been involved in open space and clean water protection in local government, and won nomination in Lake County’s 52nd District. These new champs are set to join Representatives Aaron Ortiz, Lillian Jimenez, Kam Buckner, and Senator Sara Feigenholtz, who each beat back primary challengers and will return and keep fighting for our air and water.
We also supported champions in local government. In Cook County, President Toni Preckwinkle will continue building on her legacy of protecting and expanding our beautiful forest preserves, and new Commissioners Drake Warren, Miranda Hernandez, and Elizabeth Granato will advocate for environmental justice and climate action. In Kane County, two candidates–Julie Forbes and Nico Jimenez–ran and won advocating for a moratorium on new data centers that threaten our water and clean energy supply.
Sierra Club volunteers across Illinois worked hard for these victories. We started last summer, recruiting and training members to build local political teams, who then spent hundreds of hours interviewing and many candidates for all levels of government. Through these conversations, we found bold leaders who share our commitment to fight for our future, and we leaned into these campaigns. We held more than 50 events, filled more than 150 volunteer shifts, and reached out to more than 20,000 voters through phone outreach and door knocking. Through this outreach we were able to have more than 1400 personal conversations with voters, cutting through the piles of junk mail and the saturation of negative ads with messages about actual policies that will make a difference in the lives of people and the future of our state and planet.
We’re especially proud of these volunteer-powered grassroots efforts to endorse and then elect these candidates, and grateful for the countless volunteers who took time interviewing and deliberating on our endorsements, and then got out on the doors and phones to make sure that a Sierra Club endorsement is a people-powered endorsement.
After we take a moment to celebrate these wins, and the candidates who put themselves forward, we’ll be right back at it in key battlegrounds for this general election, to make sure Illinois stands strong against the Trump agenda, and for the bold actions we must take to protect our communities, climate, air, land and water. Join us!