We extend our deepest congratulations to Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, State Sen. Graciela Guzmán, State Rep. Lilian Jiménez, Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps, and to first-time democratic nominees Shantel Franklin (IL House - 8), Miguel Alvelo Rivera (IL House - 40), and Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez (District 8)!
From the Executive Committee (3/17/26):
This Illinois primary will be remembered for the unprecedented amount of dark money that was spent in support of the Billionaire’s pro-war, pro-poverty agenda. Out-of-state billionaires and those in our own backyard like Michael Sacks–who bankrolled Rahm Emanuel’s mass closure of public schools and health clinics–believe they can buy our elections outright.
From the national AIPAC, AI, and crypto lobbies to local PACs like Sacks’ misleadinglyly-named “Common Ground Collective,” the ultra-rich spent big in Illinois to undermine our democratic process and ensure their profits continue to skyrocket at a time when food aid, healthcare, childcare, education, and housing are being cut off for the rest of us. The ultra rich, as well as the Republicans and corporate Democrats they fund, have created this moment of crisis by refusing to pay their share in taxes and enabling the MAGA regime. Illinois residents deserve elected officials that prioritize care, not pay-to-play cruelty and hoarding of our collective resources by the wealthy few.
United Working Families backed progressive leaders who reject the Billionaire agenda and know how to fight it because they come from the rank-and-file of our movements for racial and economic justice. We backed candidates who are proven fighters–candidates who fearlessly protect our neighbors from ICE and Trump attacks, champion labor rights and living wages, and have already been doing the hard work of building power for the many. We congratulate the UWF-endorsed candidates who won their elections and look forward to partnering with them.
These victories demonstrate voters’ clear demands for transformative investment in Black, Brown and working class communities, pro-democracy policies that build up and don’t punish, and a world for the many, not the wealthy few.
The money we saw flow into these mid-term primary elections from the rich and powerful is a growing threat to free and fair elections at the same time that we are facing attacks on voting rights for Black communities, women, and our seniors. This is a warning of what we can expect in Chicago’s 2027 municipal elections and in 2028. It is crucial we remember what Trump-aligned Super PACS have done here.
Instead of respecting our environment and constitutional rights, the AI lobby (Think Big, the Dem counterpart to Leading the Future, a PAC of MAGA-funders & ICE profiteers) spent big in hopes of curbing regulations that protect workers, our neighbors, our privacy, our air, and our fresh water.
Instead of addressing accelerating poverty and income inequality, the MAGA-supporting cryptocurrency lobby (Fairshake and Protect Progress, funded by the same billionaires as the AI PACs) spent big to push more deregulation.
Instead of using tens of millions to keep our communities safe with investments in healthcare, schools, and food assistance, AIPAC and its donors used deceptively-named shell PACS (Elect Chicago Women, Common Ground Collective, Affordable Chicago Now, Chicago Progressive Partnership, and United Democracy Project) to flood voters’ mailboxes with misinformation to support candidates they hope will continue Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians and the blocking of direly needed humanitarian aid.
Locally, the same clique of billionaires that closed our schools, tore down housing, and shuttered mental health clinics have attempted to rebrand themselves and return to power. Chicagoans are still recovering from what they did to us the last time they were in charge. Michael Sacks and his secret club of rich friends hope that their money can pave the way back to the Rahm Emanuel years of putting corporations ahead of our communities, but working people in Chicago are organizing and carving a new path.
Our work of electing champions to represent the many and not the wealthy few requires us to organize for the democracy we deserve, but which isn’t here yet: a democracy free of corporate influence, where the wellbeing of our communities is at the center of policy, and where the safety and dignity of our neighbors is guaranteed. There is much work ahead, but together we are strong and we are ready to fight.
