Politicians running for Illinois office stressed the importance of getting out the
Politicians running for Illinois office stressed the importance of getting out the vote at a forum for Democratic candidates Oct. 7 in Skokie sponsored by Asian-American groups.
“The bottom line is: It’s going to be a very tight election, and every vote is going to matter,” said Sheila Simon, a candidate for lieutenant governor. ”Every person in this room is going to cast a significant vote in this election. This is going to help the Democratic Party from the top of the ballot to the bottom,”
Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, who is running for re-election, also echoed the sentiment. “All of us are anxious; there is a sense of apathy with some people. All the Republicans are very excited because they think that Democrats are not going to come out and vote.” Dart also is considered a possible candidate for Mayor of Chicago.
Other candidates at the forum were Toni Preckwinkle, running for Cook County board president; David Miller, up for Illinois comptroller, and Joe Berrios, who is running for Cook County assessor.
Candidates and political leaders who addressed the crowd of approximately 200 people voiced support for equal educational opportunities, job creation and fair taxes.
“We all know someone looking for a job in the middle of national economic crises,” said Simon. “For me as a governor, the more educated we are as a state, the better jobs that we bring to the state.”
Asian-American voters are a significant force in Illinois politics, said political activist Sadruddin Noorani
“Asian voters are a very important segment to win over,” he said, “as there are over one million Asian-Americans living in Illinois.”
According to a 2008 study by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, 8.6 percent of all adult citizens in Illinois are foreign-born. Since 2000 the number of foreign-born citizens has grown 30 percent, to 754,674.
Of more than 8 million registered voters in Illinois, the study indicates, 6.9 percent are of Latino heritage and 1.7 percent are Asian-American. Asian-Americans represent at least 3 percent of registered voters in 14 of 59 Illinois Senate districts. In 2006 and 2008, immigrant votes provided a margin of victory in several closely contested Congressional races.
According to an exit poll taken after the 2008 election, an overwhelming number of immigrants supported the Democratic party. Approximately 90 percent of Latinos and 82 percent of the Asian-American voters supported Barack Obama, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
As was clear at Thursday’s forum, jobs, housing, taxes, education and immigration reform are the top concerns for the Asian community during this election season.
“The issues are not just Asian that concern Asian-Americans,” said Lourdes Mon, former chairwoman of the Asian American Coalition of Chicago. “The issues are what everybody is concerned about – jobs, taxes – because a lot of people who have been doing well have really lost a lot of their investments for the past year or so. Everyone is hurting.”
At least two audience members were left wanting more at the end of the three-hour forum organized by the Korean-American Democratic Committee of Illinois and the Asian American Coalition.
John Kim, 31, of Evanston said, “I came to learn why I have to vote for the candidates but felt that the speeches were very generic. [I] didn’t find a compelling reason to vote for the candidates. I was a little disappointed by what they said.” Other attendees said the forum, which included more than a dozen speakers, was disorganized.
Though Gov. Pat Quinn and Alexi Giannoulias, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Illinois, tentatively agreed to attend, they were no shows.