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Girl, I Guess:

A Progressive Voter Guide to the 2020 General Election in Cook County and Beyond

Para una versión en Español presione aquí: http://bit.ly/GirlIGuess2020esp

Table of Contents/TL;DR

* Eat The Rich: Illinois Constitutional Amendment for the Fair Tax — Vote YES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* Thanks I Hate It: President and Vice President of the United States — Oy Vey

* Can’t Fault Them For Trying: United States Senator — Dick Durbin

* Keepin’ It Blue: US House of Representatives

* Illinois 3rd Congressional District — Marie Newman

* Illinois 5th Congressional District — Mike Quigley

* Illinois 6th Congressional District — Sean Casten

* Illinois 13th Congressional District — “Boring” Betsy Dirksen Londrigan

* Illinois 14th Congressional District — Lauren Underwood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* Literally Just Here for Robert Peters: Illinois State Senate

* IL Senate District 13 — Robert Peters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* Two In, Two to Win: Illinois House of Representatives

* IL House District 9 — Lakesia Collins ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* IL House District 14 — Kelly Cassidy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* IL House District 42 — Ken Mejia-Beal

* IL House District 54 — Maggie Trevor

* Water Wonderland: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District — Kimberly Neely Dubuclet, Cam Davis, Eira Corral Sepulveda

* For Foxx Sake: Cook County State's Attorney — Kim Foxx

* Who Judges the Judgemen: Retention of Judges

* Michael P. Toomin — Vote NO

* Kenneth J. Wadas — Vote NO

* Mauricio Araujo — Vote NO

* Anna Helen Demacopolous — Vote NO

* Jackie Marie Portman-Brown — Vote NO

* Daniel J. Kubasiak — Vote NO

* Megan Elizabeth Goldish — Vote NO

* John J. Mahoney — Vote NO

* Diana Rosario — Vote NO

* All Judicial Retention Races, No Commentary Because There are 62 Goddamn Judges

Pucinski — NO

Rochford — SUPER NO

Toomin — ULTIMATE NO

Flannery — NO

Coghlan — NO

Sutker-Dermer — NO

Martin — YES

Wadas — SUPER NO

Wojkowski — SUPER NO

Gordon — YES

Nixon — YES

Brennan — NO

Brosnahan — NO

Felice — SUPER NO

Kennedy — SUPER NO

Lewis — NO

Sullivan — SUPER NO

Vega — NO

Hyman — YES

Powell — NO

Sherlock — NO

Kirby — YES

Arce — NO

O'Hara — NO

Araujo — SUPER NO

Byrne — SUPER NO

Collins-Dole — YES

Cooper — YES

Demacopolous — BIG NO

Kenworthy — YES

Loza — NO

Portman-Brown —BIG NO

Ross — YES

Ryan — YES

Walker — YES

Walowski — NO

Kyriakopolous — NO

Moreland — NO

Carroll — NO

Cobbs — YES

Kubasiak — SUPER NO

Buford — YES

Meyerson — YES

Lawler — YES

Allegretti — NO

Rivers — NO

Watkins — YES

Romanek — YES

Raines — NO

Rice — NO

Coughlin — NO

Curry — SUPER NO

Goldish — SUPER NO

Hansen — NO

Kuzas — SUPER NO

Mahoney — SUPER NO

Martinez — YES

McGuire — YES

Mitchell — YES

Pieczonka — NO

Rosario — SUPER NO

Sheahan — YES

* Ballot Measures

* Broadband — Vote YES

* City Plan — Vote YES

* Firearms — Vote NO

* Mental Health District — Vote YES

* Mental Health Tax — Vote NO

* Alcoholic Liquor W44 P16 — Vote NO

Who Are We?

Like your favorite aunt who fled the country in 2016 but still visits for Passover and Hanukkah, Girl, I Guess is BACK!! After the March primaries produced some big, disappointing losses, and also some pretty cool wins, Cook County’s favorite voter guide is ready to lead us into disappointment once again. Written and edited during the Jewish High Holy Days, the sixth distinct iteration of the Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide promises to be the most bitter, snarky, and sincerely useful edition yet! Steph is again writing the Guide solo, and likes to think she’s got it down to a science by now. So much of a science, in fact, that following this section, she’ll stop talking about herself in the third person for good. Let’s dive right in!

Stephanie Skora is a grouchy trans dyke, and an anarchist with a political science degree. She is one half of the podcast TacoBagel, the Associate Executive Director at Brave Space Alliance, a member of the Coordinating Committee for Jewish Voice for Peace - Chicago, and a founding organizer of the Trans Liberation Collective.

Girl, I Guess is Jewish, queer, nerdy and dedicated to helping members of our community navigate a confusing ballot and identify the most progressive candidates. I also recommend you consult with progressive / radical organizers in your community, especially queer, trans, Black, and Brown folks because this guide is currently an individual effort, and I might be a Virgo smartypants know-it-all with a lot of opinions, but I’m far from infallible!

Putting together this voter guide is an act of love, but it is a lot of work! If you’d like to support Girl, I Guess, my PayPal link can be found here! If you don’t have PayPal, but still want to donate, you can support by donating through my Venmo account, @StephanieSkora, or my CashApp, $StephanieSkora.

To support those fighting for Black liberation and the overthrow of fascism, and in recognition that voting won’t save us, 50% of the aggregate donations from this edition of Girl, I Guess will be donated to Brave Space Alliance, and Black Lives Matter - Chicago.

*This guide does not represent the political views of my organizations or employer!! Brave Space Alliance is a 501c3 organization, and does not contribute to, or have anything to do with, the writing of this document, or any endorsements, opinions, or content herein!

Why Bother?

“And Aaron said unto Moses, ‘Didn’t we pass that sand dune last week?’ to which Moses did proclaim, ‘Aaron, I have been chosen to lead our people out of bondage, and to the Promised Land. I know where I’m going, and no, I won’t stop and ask for directions.’”

* The Torah, Leviticus, No I Don’t Know The Verse I’m Not a Rabbi

Far too often, elections feel a bit like wandering for forty years in the desert. Dear reader, “why bother” has never felt more like a valid question. Our world is literally on fire, there’s a rebellion going on, fascism is ascendant, and COVID-19 has caused the QuaranTimes. There’s a very real possibility that there could be a civil war in the near future, and as I wrote this section, I got the news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, prompting the question, “Why is it never Henry Kissinger that dies?” Whoever is re-writing “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” they can stop now. What a world we live in. And yet, that world will go on, or at least attempt to, and since this is an even-numbered year in the United States, that means we’ve got a General Election on our hands! We know that voting won’t save us, and it won’t even come close. Once again, we’re being asked to choose between a Democrat of Questionable Repute, and a Republican doing their best Nazi impression (and sometimes, for levity, a weird Libertarian, or an old White Green Party guy). I, however, am holding fast to the idea that voting is incredibly important, for three main reasons:

1. First, rich people have too much money, and we can maybe do something about that. This November in Illinois, we’ll have the opportunity to amend the State Constitution to remove the “flat tax” portion of the Revenue Article, allowing our state government to substantially raise taxes on the rich. I seem to remember a certain grouchy Jew getting a lot of folks super into that idea.

2. Second, that regardless of your views on voting, so many people who deeply value their vote have had it stolen from them by systemic, targeted voter disenfranchisement. If you don’t plan on exercising your privilege to cast a ballot, I encourage you to find someone that is unable to vote, but wants to do so, and cast a ballot for them. Let their voice be heard in a process that they value, and do use your access in place of theirs.

3. Third, and finally, because voting is really, really easy, and if you vote absentee, it barely takes any time at all. Just apply to vote by mail using the handy instructions below, fill out your ballot, pop it in the mail, and you’re done. It’s that simple, and no matter your theory of change, I’ve already done most of the work for you!

But, dear reader, I’m going to level with you. If voting is where your participation stops and starts in our political process, you’re not doing anywhere near enough. There are significant, structural, deep-seated problems facing our country right now, and there have been for a long time (read as: since it began). We all need to do as much as we possibly can to dismantle the evils of this country, including White Supremacy, colonialism, eugenics, transphobia, antisemitism, imperialism… you name it. Reading this Guide and voting is the participation trophy of political engagement. It’s the absolute bare minimum that you can, and should do, but afterwards, you need to take to the streets. This country needs a militant, focused, Leftist uprising to fight back against the militant, focused, fascist uprising that’s already happening. We cannot, and will not, vote our way out of this mess, it just isn’t possible. Yes, voting is still incredibly important on the State and local level, and yes, while you’re in there you may as well vote for Federal offices, too, but we have to fight the fuck back. If you don’t know where to start, there are a million places that you can look, and start, and I guarantee you know one if you’ve been paying a lick of attention since March. We need a revolution, and we need you to be part of it. Trust me when I say the right-wingers already have all the people they need.

Elected officials who read this Guide, first of all, hi! Thanks! If you want to contact me about something in here, please do it yourself, and don’t have your Comms person or Chief of Staff do it, because I don’t know their name, but I do know yours, and I’m more likely to click on your email or DM right away. Second of all, we need your help to be able to have this revolution, and to win. Ple